Panama Papers: David Cameron admits he benefited from father's offshore

he Prime Minister’s father, Ian Cameron, who passed away in 2010, was exposed as running a fund under the name of Blairmore Holdings in the papers.

 

UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, has admitted to profiting from father’s offshore investment fund, which he sold in 2010, four months before he became Prime Minister, for around £30,000.

Cameron's admission comes five days after a massive document popularly tagged "Panama Papers" was leaked. The document exposed the hidden funds of thousands of individuals of worldwide.

The Prime Minister’s father, Ian Cameron, who passed away in 2010, was exposed as running a fund under the name of Blairmore Holdings in the papers.

Cameron's office had initially said that it was a “private matter” whether or not the Prime Minister had benefitted from the fund. It later issued a series of statements denying the Prime Minister currently benefits from offshore funds, or stands to do so in the future.

Cameron said he and his wife, Samantha, held 5,000 units in the Blairmore Investment Trust for three years from 1997.

The stake was purchased for £12,497 and sold for £31,500 in January 2010, giving the Camerons a £19,003 profit, £300 below the capital gains tax allowance.

But the prime minister insists his family declared all annual dividends they received from the investment, and paid full income tax on any returns.

“I want to be as clear as I can about the past, about the present, about the future, because, frankly, I don’t have anything to hide, I’m proud of my dad and what he did and the business he established and all the rest of it,” Cameron said in an interview with In an interview with ITV’s political editor, Robert Peston, on Thursday, April 7.

“I can’t bear to see his name being dragged through the mud. I chose to take a different path from my father, grandfather and great-grandfather, who were all stockbrokers, and I’ve got nothing to hide in my arrangements and I’m very happy to answer questions about it.”

The Panama Papers also named Nigeria's Senate President, Bukola Saraki, former Senate President David Mark and the Prime Minister of Iceland among several others as owners of offshore companies.

Following the revelations, Iceland PM tendered his resignation this week after massive protests by the country's citizens demanding he quits his job.