Calls for PM to go before MPs

A Leeds MP has called on the Prime Minister to deliver a statement to Parliament on Monday over his tax affairs.
CALLS: Richard Burgon said PM needs to put the record straightCALLS: Richard Burgon said PM needs to put the record straight
CALLS: Richard Burgon said PM needs to put the record straight

Leeds East MP Richard Burgon, Labour’s Shadow Cities Minister, said David Cameron needs to “put the record straight” about his financial affairs.

The PM has insisted he does not have “anything to hide” after revealing he and his wife sold shares worth more than £30,000 in an offshore tax haven fund set up by his late father.

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He has faced intense pressure - including from Yorkshire MPs - to detail his interests since the Panama Papers leaks included details of Blairmore Holdings - which used “bearer shares” to protect investors’ privacy.

Writing for the Yorkshire Evening Post Mr Burgon said: “It is simply morally wrong if those who govern us – and their multinational corporation friends - don’t pay tax like the rest of us.

“Especially when the Conservative Government pretends it’s necessary to cut funding to Leeds City Council and other councils in our region by more than half.

“After four days of refusing to come clean, the Prime Minister has now finally been forced to admit he directly benefited from Blairmore – a company which for 30 years paid no tax to the Exchequer.

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“I believe David Cameron needs to put the record straight and issue a statement to Parliament on Monday.”

Mr Burgon added: “Failure to issue a statement will give rise to further questions about whether the Prime Minister himself has breached the Ministerial Code.”

Speaking to ITV, Mr Cameron said: “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.”