THE SNP has called on UK Government ministers to declare any links to tax havens following the Panama Papers tax avoidance scandal.
Angus Robertson, the SNP's Westminster leader, made the demand amid growing pressure on Chancellor George Osborne to say whether he had ever benefited from offshore money.
The huge leak of documents from Panama-based legal firm Mossack Fonseca revealed how high-profile politicians and their families used tax havens to hide their wealth and avoid tax.
David Cameron felt the heat from the scandal last week after it was revealed his late father had set up an offshore trust, Blairmore Holdings, in Panama in 1982.
The Prime Minister issued several clarifications about the firm before confirming he had made £31,500 before tax after selling his shares in the entity.
However, Osborne has been less forthcoming about any links to tax havens. He was asked last week by a reporter: "Do you now or will you in the future benefit from any offshore funds?"
He replied: “As I say, this government – this Conservative government has done more than any Labour government to tackle tax evasion to tackle tax avoidance.”
Robertson said yesterday: “David Cameron has serious questions to answer and must provide full disclosure of his cabinet – how many government ministers have benefited from tax havens?
"For a government that says it opposes tax avoidance, it would be totally unacceptable for any of David Cameron's cabinet to have pocketed themselves. We have yet to hear from Chancellor George Osborne, or others, despite claims a few months ago from the Chancellor that tax avoiders should be treated as 'common thieves'.
"It has been a disastrous week for the Prime Minister, how can the public trust him? Had it not been for the Panama Papers leak we would have been none the wiser – and even then it has taken the Prime Minister several days to clarify he benefited from his father's off-shore trust.
"We also don't know if David Cameron has benefited from his father-in-law's trust. It has been reported that the Cameron family also use the British Virgin Islands tax haven to register the 19,000-acre Scottish Jura estate of Lord Astor, Cameron’s father-in-law. David Cameron must come clean.”
The SNP has also called for Cameron to make a statement when Parliament returns tomorrow. However, a senior SNP insider said the Panama Papers affair was damaging for all political parties: “Politicians are being asked to declare their links to tax havens, but then it will be donors and high-profile supporters. Nobody will come out well.”
Meanwhile, it emerged last night that the UK Government had created a new taskforce to deal with the issues raised by the Panama Papers.
The body will be jointly led by HMRC and the National Crime Agency and will draw on investigators, compliance specialists and analysts from HMRC, the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority.
The Prime Minister said of the move: “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. 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.
“This world-class operation will report to the Chancellor and the Home Secretary on their strategy for taking action later this year, when we will update Parliament.”
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