Huge data leak from Panama law firm - many politicians implicated

[Woodsey]

I couldn't help but smile at the irony in the Cameron Trust Fund name, Blairmore.

First thing I thought when I saw it lol, wonder when it was set up 

[TightEnd]

transcript of the Peston/Cameron interview

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-04-07/david-cameron-admits-he-had-a-30-000-stake-in-his-fathers-offshore-trust/

took about 4 poisition changes to get this far, which i suppose does the damage from how badly it was handled, rather than there being anythign illegal here

[TightEnd]

Ladbrokes now make it 2/1 that Cameron will be replaced this year.

12/1 yesterday

[Doobs]

transcript of the Peston/Cameron interview

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-04-07/david-cameron-admits-he-had-a-30-000-stake-in-his-fathers-offshore-trust/

took about 4 poisition changes to get this far, which i suppose does the damage from how badly it was handled, rather than there being anythign illegal here

he has a real moral issue here.  He took ages to come clean and I don't care what he says, these offshore trusts are always going to look bad.  Investing offshore seems such a bad thing to do if you have dreams of becoming PM one day and so stupid for a sum of money that isn't going to mean that much to him too.  He could have got virtually the same benefits from an ISA and nobody would bat an eyelid.

The hypocritical angle is weird, do people expect him to only vote in his own self interest?  Strikes me as a ridiculous standpoint to take.  Acting too much in their own self interest is exactly the issue most people have with politicians. 

[bobAlike]

If my father owned an offshore company that was not illegal I would like to support him and own a handful of shares. I see nothing wrong in that. However he should have come clean from the start.

[DungBeetle]

transcript of the Peston/Cameron interview

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-04-07/david-cameron-admits-he-had-a-30-000-stake-in-his-fathers-offshore-trust/

took about 4 poisition changes to get this far, which i suppose does the damage from how badly it was handled, rather than there being anythign illegal here

he has a real moral issue here.  He took ages to come clean and I don't care what he says, these offshore trusts are always going to look bad.  Investing offshore seems such a bad thing to do if you have dreams of becoming PM one day and so stupid for a sum of money that isn't going to mean that much to him too.  He could have got virtually the same benefits from an ISA and nobody would bat an eyelid.

The hypocritical angle is weird, do people expect him to only vote in his own self interest?  Strikes me as a ridiculous standpoint to take.  Acting too much in their own self interest is exactly the issue most people have with politicians. 

Why is this me hypocritical angle weird?  He smoked Jimmy Carr last year in an interview.  You can't slate other people while doing a similar thing yourself.  You can't preach about everyone "paying their fair share" when you have offshore trusts.  I'm a Tory voter generally and I think his credibility is now zero.

[Jon MW]

transcript of the Peston/Cameron interview

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-04-07/david-cameron-admits-he-had-a-30-000-stake-in-his-fathers-offshore-trust/

took about 4 poisition changes to get this far, which i suppose does the damage from how badly it was handled, rather than there being anythign illegal here

he has a real moral issue here.  He took ages to come clean and I don't care what he says, these offshore trusts are always going to look bad.  Investing offshore seems such a bad thing to do if you have dreams of becoming PM one day and so stupid for a sum of money that isn't going to mean that much to him too.  He could have got virtually the same benefits from an ISA and nobody would bat an eyelid.

The hypocritical angle is weird, do people expect him to only vote in his own self interest?  Strikes me as a ridiculous standpoint to take.  Acting too much in their own self interest is exactly the issue most people have with politicians. 

Why is this me hypocritical angle weird?  He smoked Jimmy Carr last year in an interview.  You can't slate other people while doing a similar thing yourself.  You can't preach about everyone "paying their fair share" when you have offshore trusts.  I'm a Tory voter generally and I think his credibility is now zero.

Having an offshore trust to avoid tax isn't really similar to the tax avoidance schemes he was criticising though (I think) - weren't they more about trying to 'trick' the government and exploit loopholes to avoid tax; I thought putting money into an offshore trust is a very basic and simple measure - like a rich person's version of an ISA.

Even if it is the same he didn't slate him while doing something similar - he slated him several years later, similarly he didn't preach about everyone "paying their fair share" when he had offshore trusts; it's understandable to think he might be embarrassed by it but isn't it possible he learned from his own experience and became a 'better' person for it?

[horseplayer]

Oh dear Dave

[Doobs]

transcript of the Peston/Cameron interview

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-04-07/david-cameron-admits-he-had-a-30-000-stake-in-his-fathers-offshore-trust/

took about 4 poisition changes to get this far, which i suppose does the damage from how badly it was handled, rather than there being anythign illegal here

he has a real moral issue here.  He took ages to come clean and I don't care what he says, these offshore trusts are always going to look bad.  Investing offshore seems such a bad thing to do if you have dreams of becoming PM one day and so stupid for a sum of money that isn't going to mean that much to him too.  He could have got virtually the same benefits from an ISA and nobody would bat an eyelid.

The hypocritical angle is weird, do people expect him to only vote in his own self interest?  Strikes me as a ridiculous standpoint to take.  Acting too much in their own self interest is exactly the issue most people have with politicians. 

Why is this me hypocritical angle weird?  He smoked Jimmy Carr last year in an interview.  You can't slate other people while doing a similar thing yourself.  You can't preach about everyone "paying their fair share" when you have offshore trusts.  I'm a Tory voter generally and I think his credibility is now zero.

There is absolutely no similarity to Jimmy Carr's scheme and this one.  Jimmy Carr's scheme was one to avoid virtually all income tax, this is one where Cameron as invested after paying income tax.  All this scheme seems to have done for Dave is roll up his money gross.  He could have done the same with an ISA or pension.   This is the difference between tax evasion and avoidance. 

Jimmy Carr and those other celeb's who did that deserve all the crap that came their way.  They probably deserved more, and should be viewed similarly to benefit fraudsters, as what they did was far worse than what Cameron has done. 

Of course we should hold celebs to lower standards than a PM, MP or similar.

[Poacky3s]

Cameron has done what all politicians do, desperately tried to avoid the question for days instead of being honest about it and just saying what happened from the word go. If he had done that it wouldn't have quite been a non issue, but it wouldn't be as bad as it is now.

I don't think what he's done is wrong in the slightest, morally or illegally. However if it takes this to finish him off then I'll be delighted, maybe some sort of justice for all the disgraceful things he's done since being PM.

[MintTrav]

Jimmy Carr and those other celeb's who did that deserve all the crap that came their way.  They probably deserved more, and should be viewed similarly to benefit fraudsters, as what they did was far worse than what Cameron has done. 

Grrrr! I wish people would stop tarring the single mother on benefits who doesn't fess up that her new boyfriend has moved in and saves a few quid with the same brush as millionaires who decide that isn't enough and they want to cream off a few hundred thousand more.

[PokerBroker]

Does anyone believe for a second that this 30k is all Cameron had in this trust? 

This is likely to be the tip of the iceberg.   Given his family's history and previous practices.  I have always found him dishonest, false and lacking moral fibre. 

A rich kid, who was primed from an early age to be leader. 

I expected nothing better. 

[Poacky3s]

Does anyone believe for a second that this 30k is all Cameron had in this trust?

This what I assumed too. If Daddy had millions in this fund then surely Cameron would have a lot more than just 30 grand in there. Saying on the news today that he got 300k inheritance plus a 200k gift from Mummy after his father passed away. Those are more serious figures but I reckon every investigative journalist in the UK will be digging deep on him now, hopefully just a matter of time before he's emptied.

[doubleup]

ffs being rich isn't a crime.

The issue is tax avoidance.  It appears that a large number of people and businesses are enjoying the benefits of western society while not paying a proportionate amount to maintain those benefits.

[Woodsey]

ffs being rich isn't a crime.

To some it is...

There's another element to this, those that want to see the back of Cameron but want to stay in the EU should be careful what they wish for. If this keeps rumbling on Cameron will be less credible when campaigning for the in vote, it increases the chances of the out vote winning. They need to decide what's worse, another 2 or 3 years of Cameron or leave the EU.....