THE sheer scale of the Panama Papers leak makes them unique – 2.6 terabytes of emails, spreadsheets, corporate records and passports that reveal how the rich hide their wealth from the taxman.
SNP MP Roger Mullin reckons the leak from law firm Mossack Fonseca is just the “tip of the iceberg”.
And of course we see the usual suspects implicated – a couple of Tory peers and a former Tory minister sharing the wall of shame with 12 current and former world leaders, including the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the president of Ukraine, and the king of Saudi Arabia.
David Cameron came to office pledging to crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, but there has been little evidence of any concrete action.
However pressure is mounting, especially after Cameron’s late father, Ian, allegedly used Blairmore Holdings – which is incorporated in Panama but based in the Bahamas and which he helped set up – to help shield investments from UK tax authorities as he built up a significant legacy.
Downing Street said whether or not the Cameron family still had funds in offshore investments was a “private matter”. But is it really?
Should the PM not be beyond reproach when it comes to financial transparency?
SNP Deputy Leader Stewart Hosie wants to the see the veil of secrecy lifted to show the true ownership of companies registered in British Overseas Territories.
“This has to stop and the Tories are running out of excuses as to why they have not done more to stop this dubious practice,” he says.
Of course, using offshore companies is not in itself illegal, but the disclosures have intensified calls for international reform of the way tax havens are allowed to operate freely, despite all-too-frequent claims of money laundering on a massive scale, which the Panama Papers appear to support.
Names revealed in Panama papers leak is ‘just tip of iceberg’, say SNP
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