Panama Papers: David Cameron did nothing wrong, says City grandee
David Cameron acted with the “utmost financial probity” over his use of an offshore investment fund, Blairmore Holdings, established by his father and exposed in the Panama Papers revelations, according to City grandee, David Buik.
The prime minister has been embroiled in the scandal after it emerged that he held shares in the company between 1997 and 2010, selling them for around £30,000 shortly before becoming prime minister.
He also inherited £300,000 on the death of his father, Ian Cameron, and received two further payments of £100,000 each from his mother, Mary Cameron, in 2011, while he was in office. Over the weekend, Cameron published his tax returns for the time he has been prime minister, which showed that in addition to his £142,500 salary, he scooped more than £40,000 in each of the last four years from renting out his family home.
Read more: David Cameron’s tax return in three simple charts
“For the avoidance of doubt,” Buik argued in his morning email to fans and followers, “Cameron, as far as I can see, has not broken any rules, avoided tax illegally and frankly he appears to have behaved with the utmost financial probity.”
Buik, of Panmure Gordon, also launched into a general tirade about the “global taxation system”, branding it a “farce” and saying that without reform “tax avoidance schemes will rule”, while at the same time attacking those who fail to understand the importance of making money.
Read more: Could you be unwittingly involved in the Panama tax-avoidance scandal?
“Creating wealth is not a dirty pastime. Wealth creates jobs. I cannot understand why so many of the so-called intelligentsia do not comprehend this fact.”
On Sunday, the government announced it was launching a taskforce, to be led by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA), to investigate the Panama papers.
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“The UK has been at the forefront of international action to tackle the global scourge of aggressive tax avoidance and evasion, and international corruption more broadly,” Cameron said.
“There is clearly further to go and this taskforce will bring together the best of British expertise to deal with any wrongdoing relating to the Panama papers,” he added.