Downing Street’s anger as BBC refuses to hand over papers

NUMBER 10 expressed fury last night after the BBC and The Guardian refused to hand over the Paradise Papers to the tax authorities.

HM Revenue and Customs has requested access to the leaked documents, saying it will aid investigations into tax evasion, but both media organisations have refused, saying it is held by a global con- sortium of investigative journalists and is not theirs to give away.

Last night one MP suggested journalists may have colluded with Jeremy Corbyn by feeding him information before it was released. The Labour leader last week asked Theresa May about private jet-owners dodging tax in the Isle of Man – five days before the leaks. Tory MP James Cleverly said: ‘It seems as if the Labour Party is being given better briefings than HMRC.’

The BBC and The Guardian denied the accusation last night, saying the information was in the public domain.

Downing Street said HMRC had asked the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which controls the documents, to share the information ten days ago.

The ICIJ has so far refused, despite condemning ‘tax-avoidance structures that drain billions from national treasuries’.

Gerard Ryle of the ICIJ said: ‘It is a long-standing policy ... that we do not work with governments.’