Aspiration not a dirty word, says Cameron

DAVID Cameron launched a passionate defence of aspiration and the right to ‘make money lawfully’ yesterday.

The Prime Minister angrily hit back at critics of his family’s tax affairs, saying his late father had been ‘traduced’ as a tax dodger for setting up an investment fund in Panama.

And he savaged Labour as the ‘enemy of aspiration’, over Jeremy Corbyn’s suggestion that he might ban parents from giving tax-free gifts to their children.

‘This is a Government – and this should be a country – who believe in aspiration and wealth creation,’ he said. ‘We should defend the right of every British citizen to make money lawfully.

‘Aspiration and wealth creation are not somehow dirty words. They are the key engines of growth and prosperity … we must always support those who want to own shares and make investments to support their families. As for parents passing money to their children while they are still alive … it’s something that we should not just defend but we should proudly support.’

It came as senior figures scrambled to publish tax returns in a bid to close down the controversy over the leaked Panama Papers. In yesterday’s other developments: ÷ George Osborne released details showing he earned £198,738 last year, with his salary topped up by rental income from his London home and dividends from shares in his father’s wallpaper firm; Boris Johnson published financial information showing he earned almost £2million from 2011 to 2015 and paid £916,481 tax in the period; Jeremy Corbyn released details revealing that he was fined £100 for filing his tax return late last year. He declared earnings of £1,850 on top of his MP’s salary; Mr Cameron faced questions over £72,000 worth of shares he sold two months after becoming prime minister in 2010; He revealed controversial UK dependencies including the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands had agreed in the past 48 hours to do more to improve tax transparency;

Mr Cameron released six years of tax returns at the weekend, show- ing he has earned about £200,000 a year since becoming PM. The move follows revelations that his late father Ian had registered his Blairmore investment fund in Panama.

The Prime Minister eventually disclosed last week that he and wife Samantha sold a £31,500 investment in Blairmore months before he entered Downing Street in 2010.

But the confession came only after days of prevarication from No10.

Yesterday he insisted neither he nor his father had done anything wrong. He told the Commons his stockbroker father had been a victim of ‘deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue’ comments. Mr Cameron said Blairmore had been an ‘entirely standard’ unit trust, similar to offshore funds invested in by trade unions and Labour councils.

Media critics such as the BBC and The Guardian, which led the charge over the Panama Papers, have also invested in similar funds, he said.

‘I accept all of the criticisms for not responding more quickly to these issues last week but as I said I was angry about the way my father’s memory was being traduced … he was a hardworking man and a wonderful dad and I’m proud of everything he did to build a business and provide for his family,’ Mr Cameron told MPs.

He insisted the Government had done more than any other to tackle aggressive tax avoidance, including an announcement yesterday of a criminal offence for companies that allow staff to facilitate it. But he said this should not be confused with legitimate investments in things such as unit trusts.

He also addressed questions over a £200,000 gift from his mother which followed the £300,000 inheritance he received after his father’s death. The payments by Mary Cameron in May and July 2011 were given tax-free, and will become liable to inheritance tax only if she dies within seven years of handing over the money. There is no suggestion they have broken any rules.

The PM said: ‘Far from people being embarrassed about passing things to their children … it’s a natural human instinct and something that should be encouraged.’

Jeremy Corbyn said the statement was a ‘masterclass in the art of distraction’. ‘There is now one rule for the super-rich and another for the rest,’ the Labour leader added. ‘I’m honestly not sure that you fully appreciate the anger that is out

there over this injustice.’ The PM also faced questions over £72,000 in shares he sold in July 2010. Downing Street said he had supplied full details to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Hudson, who is considering a Labour request to launch an inquiry into the PM’s failure to declare his shareholding.

No 10 said rules had not required him to declare his shares or his Blairmore stake. But it refused to divulge details of the shares. Aides could not explain why he had sold his Blairmore stake before becoming PM, but held on to his stake in other shares for another six months.

Labour is considering a demand that all MPs should publish their tax returns. But Mr Cameron and other Tories dismissed the idea.

Sir Alan Duncan said the PM’s critics ‘hate anyone who has got a hint of wealth’ and forcing MPs to declare all financial details risked creating a Commons of ‘low achievers who hate enterprise, hate people who look after their own family and know absolutely nothing about the outside world’.