Thousands of protesters marched on Downing Street on April 9 to demand British Prime Minister David Cameron resign after revelations about his tax affairs emerged in preceding days in fall out from the huge Panama Papers tax haven leaks.
The next day, Cameron published his tax records in an attempt to contain the political fallout over his personal finances, which has come under scrutiny after the mention of his late father in the Panama Papers. Cameron took several days to finally admit that had a stake in his father's offshore fund, revealed as a result of the Panama Papers scandal, and that he had profited from it.
Protesters, many wearing Panama hats, descended on the gates of Downing Street carrying placards with slogans such as "he's got to go", "time to go chum" and "Eton's mess", referring to his elite private school education.
Scores also vented their angerby trying to storm the Conservative Party Spring Conference at the Grand Connaught Rooms events center, also in London.
The protests were organised around the social networking campaigns "Resign Cameron"' and "Close tax loopholes," and have gained support from high-profile figures such as whistle-blower Edward Snowden and singer Lily Allen.
While Cameron is not accused of doing anything illegal, he made four different statements over four days about his late father's inclusion in the documents. He eventually admitted he personally benefited from his father's use of tax havens. Documents showed that the prime minister's father Ian Cameron, who passed away in 2010, opened a fund under the name of Blairmore Holdings.
Scores of politicians and business figures have been implicated in the Panama Papers, including the prime minister of Iceland who has since stepped down. The 11.5 million documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca detail the creation of more than 200,000 companies in offshore tax havens.
On April 10, Cameron also announced a new taskforce, jointly led by Britain's tax authority and National Crime Agency, to further efforts to tackle money laundering and tax evasion.
Cameron has often highlighted the problem of tax avoidance in his political career, making his connection to the Panama Papers all the more controversial.
[Compiled from TeleSUR English.]
