David Cameron fights 'deeply hurtful' tax dodge claims as he reveals offshore havens crackdown

David Cameron came out fighting today against "deeply hurtful" tax dodge claims over the £30,000 shares he had in his dad's offshore trust.

The Prime Minister's humiliating Commons statement came after he was forced to admit benefiting from Bahamas-based Blairmore Holdings.

But he denied it was set up to avoid tax, telling MPs : "There have been some deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue allegations made against my father.

"This investment fund was set off overseas in the first place because it was going to be trading predominantly in dollar securities."

He claimed full responsibility for taking nearly a week to admit his true financial affairs.

But he said: "I was angry about the way my father’s memory was being traduced. I know he was a hard working man and a wonderful dad and he did everything he could to provide for his family."

As Tory MPs tried to shift the focus from their leader, the PM announced a three-pronged plan to crack down on offshore tax avoidance:

1. UK law enforcement will be able to find out the beneficiaries of firms in all tax havens except Anguila and Guernsey, which haven’t yet agreed to a deal. "Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Isle of Man, Jersey, the lot!" he said.
2. There will be a new criminal offence “for corporations who fail to protect their representatives from criminally facilitating tax evasion”.
3. There will be a task force within government-sanctioned law enforcement to crack down on tax evasion.

Yet the crackdown came at the same time as Mr Cameron launched a fierce defence of his own affairs.

He claimed local government, large companies and trade unions use offshore funds, as do the BBC, Mirror Group, Guardian, and Jeremy Corbyn ’s local council Islington.

“This is not to criticise what they do. It is to make the point that this is an entirely standard practice and it is not to avoid tax,” he said.

Jeremy Corbyn accused the PM of a "masterclass in distraction"

He admitted to having sold another £72,000 worth of shares on top of the 5,000 he owned in his father's trust - but would not reveal what companies he owned shares in.

“I sold all my shares that year because I did not want any issues around conflicts of interests,” he said.

Dennis Skinner was booted from the Commons for calling the PM 'dodgy Dave'

"I'm honestly not sure that the Prime Minister fully appreciates the anger that is out there over this injustice."
Tensions flared in the Commons debate as firebrand MP Dennis Skinner was thrown out for calling the Prime Minister 'dodgy Dave'.
Speaker John Bercow ordered the 84-year-old Beast of Bolsover to withdraw his remark - but he refused, saying: “This man has done more to divide this nation than anybody else.
“He’s looked after his own pocket!

Snobbish Tory Sir Alan Duncan attacked "low achievers who hate wealth"

“I still refer to him as dodgy Dave. Do what you like!”

And Tory MP Sir Alan Duncan was accused of snobbery for implying anyone who wasn't a millionaire was a "low achiever".

He said: “Shouldn’t the PM’s critics just snap out of their synthetic indignation and admit their real point is they just hate anyone who’s got a hint of wealth in their life?

“We risk having a House of Commons stuffed full of low achievers who hate enterprise, hate people who look after their own families and know absolutely nothing about the outside world.”