PM Faces MPs After Panama Papers Scandal

David Cameron has defended his father's offshore investment fund as he faced MPs after publishing his personal financial details.

He appeared before politicians for the first time since it emerged he had profited to the tune of thousands of pounds from selling shares in Blairmore Holdings.

News (Other OTC: NWSAL - news) of Ian Cameron's fund came in the leak of the so-called Panama Papers over a week ago.

The Prime Minister defended the fund, maintaining it was not set up for tax avoidance purposes, and he hit out at "deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue allegations" about his late father.

He said the Government should always support people who want to own shares and make investments to support their families lawfully.

"This is a Government and this should be a country that believes in aspiration and wealth creation.

"So, 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 in our country."

As he spoke in the Commons, it emerged Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had published his full tax return for the last financial year and had to pay a fine for filing it late .

Meanwhile, Chancellor George Osborne published details of his tax return for the year 2014/15.

London Mayor and potential future Tory leader Boris Johnson paid nearly £1m in tax in four years, a summary of his tax returns showed.

But Mr Cameron said he did not want all MPs to publish their tax returns.

The PM has announced new laws to crack down on tax cheats in response to the Panama Papers leak.

He unveiled plans for legislation making it a criminal offence for companies to fail to stop staff aiding tax evasion.

Mr Cameron sold his shares in his father's fund before he became PM in 2010 because "he did not want issues about conflict of interest" and has previously said he had paid all tax on the shares.

The PM said Blairmore Holdings, incorporated in Panama but based in the Bahamas, was not a family trust but a commercial investment fund for any investor to buy units in.

And he said UK investors paid all of the same taxes as with any other share, including income tax on dividends.

He quoted tax lawyer Graham Aronson QC as stating this was "a perfectly normal type of collective investment fund".

No 10 originally said the PM's financial affairs were a "private matter" and it was only several days and several Downing Street statements later that Mr Cameron revealed he had profited from selling shares in Blairmore Holdings.

Mr Cameron said he accepted the criticisms he received for not responding more quickly to the issues.

Inheritance tax issues have also been raised by two £100,000 payments made to the PM by his mother Mary in 2011 after the death of his father, who had already left him £300,000.

Mr Cameron said it was "natural human instinct" for parents to want to pass things on to their children.

"As for parents passing money to their children while they are still alive, it is something the tax rules fully recognise," he said.

The revelations came as, in an unprecedented move for a Prime Minister, he released details of his income and tax information on Saturday night going back six years - but not the full tax returns.

Mr Corbyn dismissed Mr Cameron's statement as a "masterclass in the art of distraction" and accused the PM of failing to appreciate the public anger over the "scandal of destructive global tax avoidance" revealed by the Panama Papers.

He said: "There is now one rule for the super-rich, another for the rest.

"How can it be right that street cleaners, teaching assistants and nurses work and pay their taxes, yet some at the top think that the rules simply don't apply to them."

On 12 May, the PM will host a London Anti-Corruption Summit aimed at stepping up global action to expose, punish and drive out corruption in all walks of life.