Published: 12:00 AM, 10 April 2016
Could have handled the Panama Papers affair better: Cameron
David Cameron has admitted he botched the handling of the row over his financial affairs, telling Tory activists it had "not been a great week".
The Prime Minister told Conservative activists he accepted the blame for the response to the controversy over his connection to his late father Ian's offshore business interests.Speaking at the Conservative Party's spring forum in central London, Mr Cameron said: "It has not been a great week. I know that I should have handled this better; I could have handled this better. "I know there are lessons to learn and I will learn them. Don't blame Number 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers, blame me." His admission came after it took Downing Street and Mr Cameron five statements before the Prime Minister said he had benefited from the offshore fund created by his father.
It was only on Thursday - four days after the story of the Panama Papers leak first emerged - that Mr Cameron told ITV News that in 2010 he and his wife had made a £19,003 profit from shares in Blairmore Holdings, the fund created by Ian Cameron.
The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has demanded that Mr Cameron make a statement to Parliament on Monday to give a "full account of all his private financial dealings", claiming the revelations raised questions about "personal integrity". The Labour MP John Mann, who has called for the Prime Minister to resign, has also said he would ask the parliamentary standards commissioner to examine whether Mr Cameron should have declared his profits from the sale of his trust shares in the Commons register of interests.
Explaining his handling of the controversy, Mr Cameron told activists at the spring forum: "I was obviously very angry about what people were saying about my dad. I loved my dad, I miss him every day."But I mustn't let that cloud the picture. The facts are these: I bought shares in a unit trust, shares that are like any other sorts of shares and I paid taxes on them in exactly the same way."I sold those shares. In fact, I sold all the shares that I owned, on becoming Prime Minister."Insisting that he was keen to be "completely open," Mr Cameron added: "Later on I will be publishing the information that goes into my tax return, not just for this year but the years gone past because I want to be completely open and transparent about these things.There has been widespread criticism of Downing Street and Mr Cameron's responses since news of the Panama Papers leak emerged on Sunday evening.
The Prime Minister told Conservative activists he accepted the blame for the response to the controversy over his connection to his late father Ian's offshore business interests.Speaking at the Conservative Party's spring forum in central London, Mr Cameron said: "It has not been a great week. I know that I should have handled this better; I could have handled this better. "I know there are lessons to learn and I will learn them. Don't blame Number 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers, blame me." His admission came after it took Downing Street and Mr Cameron five statements before the Prime Minister said he had benefited from the offshore fund created by his father.
It was only on Thursday - four days after the story of the Panama Papers leak first emerged - that Mr Cameron told ITV News that in 2010 he and his wife had made a £19,003 profit from shares in Blairmore Holdings, the fund created by Ian Cameron.
The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has demanded that Mr Cameron make a statement to Parliament on Monday to give a "full account of all his private financial dealings", claiming the revelations raised questions about "personal integrity". The Labour MP John Mann, who has called for the Prime Minister to resign, has also said he would ask the parliamentary standards commissioner to examine whether Mr Cameron should have declared his profits from the sale of his trust shares in the Commons register of interests.
Explaining his handling of the controversy, Mr Cameron told activists at the spring forum: "I was obviously very angry about what people were saying about my dad. I loved my dad, I miss him every day."But I mustn't let that cloud the picture. The facts are these: I bought shares in a unit trust, shares that are like any other sorts of shares and I paid taxes on them in exactly the same way."I sold those shares. In fact, I sold all the shares that I owned, on becoming Prime Minister."Insisting that he was keen to be "completely open," Mr Cameron added: "Later on I will be publishing the information that goes into my tax return, not just for this year but the years gone past because I want to be completely open and transparent about these things.There has been widespread criticism of Downing Street and Mr Cameron's responses since news of the Panama Papers leak emerged on Sunday evening.
