PM Cameron announces new measures to go after tax thieves; opposition leader asks how it can be right that street cleaners, teaching assistants, nurses work and pay their taxes yet some at the top think rules simply don’t apply to them; Kyrgyzstan PM, his cabinet resign over corruption charges
LONDON: In the continuing fallout after the release of the Panama Papers, British Prime Minister David Cameron faced a barrage of criticism on Monday from the House of Commons over revelations that his late father set up an offshore trust that Cameron then benefited from, the Atlantic reported.
Cameron admitted earlier this weekend he botched his response to questions over his family’s involvement in offshore companies, telling Conservative Party members, “I could have handled this better.”
The appearance marked Cameron’s first remarks to members of parliament about the Panama Papers, a massive leak of internal documents from a Panama-based law firm that revealed earlier this month the offshore business dealings of world leaders and politicians.
The Panama Papers showed that Cameron’s father created an investment company offshore that did not pay British taxes. Cameron said he did financially benefit from selling his shares in his father’s company in 2010, but said his involvement was within the law. He also said he was “angry about the way my father’s memory was being traduced.”
On Monday, Cameron proposed new measures that would go after British corporations that do not crack down on tax evasion through offshore accounts, making tax avoidance a criminal offence.
Cameron also announced funding for a new task force that will take “rapid action” in addressing tax evasion. He noted as well that starting in September, “law enforcement will be able to see exactly who really owns and controls every company” in British territories like the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Isle of Man, and Isle of Jersey, which have traditionally been tax havens. “We want everyone with a stake in fighting corruption, from law enforcement, civil society, to the media, to be able to use this data and help us root out and deter wrongdoing,” Cameron said.
Cameron faced sharp criticism from members of the opposition Labour Party, including from its leader Jeremy Corbyn, who said the United Kingdom was at “the heart of the global tax avoidance industry” and that Cameron still had to answer further questions about his family’s wealth.
“How can it be right that street cleaners, teaching assistants, and nurses work and pay their taxes, yet some at the top think the rules simply don’t apply to them?” Corbyn said. He also argued that the new task force couldn’t be trusted, seeing as the results will be reported to “members of a party funded by donors implicated in the Panama leaks.”
The chamber devolved into yelling and jeering during much of Monday’s debate, as can happen in the British parliament. Dennis Skinner, a Labour member, was thrown out of the House of Commons for the day for calling the prime minister “dodgy Dave” several times, which the speaker of the House of Commons deemed was “unparliamentary language.”
Several top British government officials have agreed to release their tax returns after Cameron released his own returns for the last six years after the Panama Papers news broke. Cameron said he wants the U.K. to “lead the international agenda on tax evasion,” and that their efforts will now go even beyond some states in the United States.
Reuters adds: But with opposition lawmakers saying Cameron had not done enough to silence concerns about his wealth and members of his Conservative Party critical over his role in leading the campaign to stay in the European Union at a June referendum, the move is unlikely to calm the storm over the Panama Papers.
Earlier, spokeswoman for the UK prime minister said that David Cameron believes it is right for British finance ministers, opposition party finance spokespeople and potential future British leaders to publish their tax return information.
"When it comes to publishing tax returns, the prime minister has made clear that he was willing to be transparent, that it´s right for potential prime ministers to also do so," she said. "The prime minister takes the view that chancellors (finance ministers) and shadow chancellors should show transparency too.
“But he is not recommending that it should be the same thing for everyone else involved in politics," she said, underlining that Cameron felt those who were in control of the nation´s finances should be as transparent as possible.
In Bishkek, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Temir Sariyev and his cabinet resigned on Monday after a parliamentary commission accused it of corruption, a move highlighting tensions between different factions of President Almazbek Atambayev´s supporters.
"Squabbles, rumours and gossip have upset the balance within the government," Sariyev told a cabinet meeting open to the media. "The government´s work has stalled at such a difficult time."
A commission set up by the ex-Soviet republic´s parliament said last week the government had broken the law, accusing it of having rigged a $100 million road construction tender to ensure it was given to a Chinese firm that lacked the required licence.
Sariyev, who has denied any wrongdoing, had asked Atambayev to sack Transport Minister Argynbek Malabayev, but the president has refused to do so, saying the prime minister had not provided clear legal grounds for a dismissal.
On Monday, Atambayev accepted Sariyev´s resignation, which automatically triggered the resignation of the whole cabinet.
Sariyev, 52, has run the Central Asian nation´s government since last May, at the time when its economy has come under pressure from the recession in Russia and slowdowns in other neighbouring countries such as China and Kazakhstan.
Sariyev had also pledged to resolve a long-standing dispute over profit-sharing with Canada´s Centerra Gold, which operates Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan´s biggest gold mine and its economic backbone. But the sides have not reached any agreement yet.
Social Democrats closely linked to Atambayev head up a coalition that dominates the parliament and also includes the Kyrgyzstan, Onuguu-Progress and Ata Meken parties.
Sariyev´s party, Akshumkar, does not have seats in the parliament. The coalition, which controls 80 out of 120 seats in the legislature, now needs to pick a new premier within 15 days. Unlike its autocratic Central Asian neighbours, Kyrgyzstan has a relatively powerful parliament while limiting presidential powers.