David Cameron has admitted to profiting from shares he held in his father’s offshore trust, which were sold the year he became Prime Minister.
Blairmore Holdings, set up by his late father, was just one of the companies whose details were leaked in the Panama Papers released earlier this week. The Prime Minister has been hesitant to answer questions on the topic since the revelations went to press, but confirmed a direct link to the fund in an interview with Robert Peston.
He admitted to holding the shares with his wife Samantha from 1997 until their sale in 2010 – for a profit of £19,000 – because he didn’t want to anyone to say he had “agendas or vested interests.”
In the interview, he continued: “It has been a difficult few days, reading criticisms of my father and his business practices – my dad, a man I love and admire and miss every day”.
Cameron also insisted the company was not set up to avoid paying taxes.
“It wasn’t. It was set up after exchange controls went, so that people who wanted to invest in dollar denominated shares and companies could do so, and there are many other, thousands of other unit trusts set up in this way,” he said.
David Cameron is just one of many public figures to have been caught up in the Panama Papers scandal, including Iceland’s Prime Minister and the Argentinian President.
08/04/2016
