Pressure builds for Cameron to resign over offshore funds

Pressure was building on Friday for Prime Minister David Cameron to step down after he finally admitted he had in fact benefited from a stake in his late father’s offshore investment fund.

In an interview with ITV on Thursday, Cameron told Robert Peston that he and his wife owned shares in the Panama-based offshore trust set up by his father, which they sold before he became PM for £30,000.

Cameron also confessed that some of the money he inherited from his father may have come from offshore funds.

“He left me some money, very generously, quite a lot of money. It was £300,000. I obviously can't point to every source of every bit of the money, and dad isn't around to ask the questions now.”

Cameron insisted he had nothing to hide, saying he paid all the UK taxes due on the investment for the time he held it.

“I paid income tax on the dividends. There was a profit on it but it was less than the capital gains tax allowance so I didn't pay capital gains tax. But it was subject to all the UK taxes in all the normal way.

“So I want to be as clear as I can about the past, present and future. Because frankly I don't have anything to hide. I am proud of my dad and what he did, the business he established and all the rest of it. I can't bear to see his name being dragged through the mud.”

Since the admission, Cameron has come under fire for hypocrisy, with a number of MPs demanding his resignation.

Labour MP and Commons Treasury committee member John Mann called on Cameron to resign immediately.

"Cameron has been less than honest. He should resign immediately. Most decent people would expect nothing less."

Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson suggested Cameron should pay back the profits he made.

“I’m sure he will now consider voluntarily paying the money that, in his own words, should morally belong to the Exchequer.”

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “The Prime Minister has for days denied that he had offshore funds but has been dragged to the truth.

“For ordinary taxpayers to have faith in the system they have to be able to have faith in their leaders. They deserve better than half truths and qualified statements.”

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said Cameron’s credibility was “in tatters” and urged the PM to be “completely transparent about his tax affairs”.

“After four days of ducking and diving it is now clear that he personally benefited from offshore investments.

“Whether or not it was legal, the tortuous way the information was dragged out of the Prime Minister leaves his credibility in tatters — and completely betrays public trust.”

Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden also made his feelings very clear in a series of tweets, pointing to the protests in Iceland and calling on the British people to do the same and demand Cameron’s resignation.