Speaking at a
referendum campaign stop in Birmingham, Mr Cameron said: 'There are two
things I am responsible for - my own financial affairs and the tax
system of the United Kingdom.
'And
in terms of my own financial affairs, I own no shares, I have a salary
as Prime Minister, I have some savings which I get some interest from,
and I have a house which we used to live in which we now let out while
we are living in Downing Street.
'That's all I have - I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds - nothing like that.'
A
No 10 spokesman later added: 'To be clear, the Prime Minister, his wife
and their children do not benefit from any offshore funds.
'The Prime Minister owns no shares.
'As
has been previously reported, Mrs Cameron owns a small number of shares
connected to her father's land, which she declares on her tax return.'
The Prime Minister's official spokeswoman yesterday insisted the Cameron family's financial affairs were a 'private matter'.
But
Mr Corbyn said today: 'It's a private matter in so far as it's a
privately held interest, but it's not a private matter if tax has not
been paid.
'Investigations must take place, independent investigations, unprejudiced, to decide whether taxes have been paid or not
'I think the Prime Minister in his interests ought to tell us exactly what has been going on.'
HM
Revenue and Customs said yesterday it would study the data in the
leaked files, adding the information was already subject to 'intensive
investigation'.
Mr
Corbyn said he wanted an investigation conducted by HM Revenue and
Customs 'about the amount of money of all people that have invested in
these shell companies or put money into tax havens and to calculate what
tax they should have paid over the years'.
Asked whether the PM should resign if he is found to have benefited, Mr Corbyn said: 'Let's take one thing at a time.
'We need openness, we need an examination, we need a decision after that.'
Pressed
on whether he would publish his own tax return, Mr Corbyn said: 'There
is no problem with my tax affairs, they are very, very limited indeed.
'I have got an income as an MP, sadly I have got no family trusts of any sort.'
The
details about the Prime Minister's father's affairs emerged following
the leak of 11.5million secret documents from the offices of Panamanian
law firm Mossack Fonseca. As more world leaders, celebrities and
business figures were compromised:
- Three
former Tory MPs, six Lords and a number of Conservative donors were
linked to tax havens, including financiers who supported Mr Cameron's
rise to power;
- HSBC and the Queen's bank Coutts were revealed to have been among the biggest facilitators of offshore tax deals;
- The
files revealed that gold from the Brink's-Mat heist may have been
laundered with the help of Mossack Fonseca, which denies wrongdoing;
- Iceland's
prime minister was left facing a no-confidence vote after it emerged he
had an undeclared interest in his nation's bailed-out banks;
- A suspected £1.4billion money-laundering ring was said to involve close associates of Vladimir Putin;
- HMRC was branded 'hapless and pathetic' after being wrong-footed by the Panama Papers.
Mr
Corbyn earlier told the BBC that in the wake of the Panama Papers leak
he wanted direct rule of British territories that refused to follow tax
law.
He
said: 'The point is that they are not independent territories. They are
self-governing, yes, but they are British crown dependent territories.
'Therefore, surely, there has to be an observance of UK tax law in those places.
'If
they have become a place for systematic evasion and short-changing the
public in this country, then something has to be done about it.
'Either those governments comply or a next step has to be taken.'
Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve warned against closing down tax havens.
He
told the BBC: 'I must say that I think the present government has done
more to close tax loopholes than was ever done by Labour.
'There has in fact been a tremendous amount of work done by the treasury. But ultimately I think you have to strike a balance.
'If
we are going to destroy the economy of the British Virgin Islands then
we are going to destroy the livelihoods of those inhabitants.'
Experts
today said the way Ian Cameron's firm held meetings in the Caribbean
and Switzerland appeared little more than a 'conjuring trick' to make it
seem the firm was based outside the UK when key decisions were actually
taken in Britain.
The
leak shows his firm used a secretive type of share certificate now
banned in the UK. The 'Panama Papers' also reveal his company Blairmore
Holdings avoided UK tax by hiring Bahamas residents – including a bishop
– to sign paperwork.
Senior
government officials said Mr Cameron does not personally own shares in
any company and no shareholdings are registered in the list of MPs'
interests.
As Prime Minister he has spearheaded efforts to make global finance more transparent.
He has spoken out repeatedly against tax avoidance and is hosting a major summit on the issue next month.
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