Jeremy Corbyn has suggested that all politicians and other public figures should publish their tax returns, after the prime minister bowed to public pressure by revealing six years of personal receipts.
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell was quick to back up the Labour leader’s position, and said he could see no problem with a rule compelling all MPs to provide such information.
Even a cabinet member conceded that it ought to be considered. The energy secretary, Amber Rudd, said it was not the right move in her opinion, but that it was worth looking into.
Corbyn also said David Cameron ought to face questions from the parliamentary standards commissioner over the shares he held in an offshore trust set up by his late father, after a Labour MP made a complaint that could trigger an investigation.
John Mann referred Cameron to the commissioner, Katherine Hudson, saying that his failure to declare £30,000 made from the sale of shares in the trust may have broken the ethos of the rules.
Downing Street has pointed out that the money Cameron invested was well below the threshold that requires a submission, and said its rules suggested unit trusts were not normally listed.
Corbyn, however, said: “I think there is a question for parliament there. There is a question for parliamentary standards … There has been a series of changing stories coming out of Downing Street. There has been a statement roughly every 18 to 24 hours since last Monday.”
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, he said Labour would propose tougher parliamentary registration rules that would mean overseas assets had to be declared at a much lower value.
Asked if more MPs and even political journalists should publish their income tax returns, he said: “I think we are moving in that direction. I think it is a good thing so everyone knows what influences are at play.”
He said openness about potential influence was crucial when politicians were making decisions.
The questions for Cameron, he added, were whether he benefited from the offshore trust before 2010, and why the money was placed in an overseas tax haven in the first place.
Corbyn’s comments came after the prime minister took an unprecedented decision to release his personal tax records on Saturday, revealing that his mother had transferred two separate payments of £100,000 to his accounts in 2011, allowing the family estate to avoid a pontential £80,000 in inheritance tax.
Corbyn said the Panama Papers had revealed tax avoidance and evasion on an “industrial scale” and were the tip of the iceberg.
“What is more important is looking at the issue of tax havens, of British overseas territories, of the way in which large sums of money, huge sums of money are placed in these havens to avoid tax. There is a moral case. If you earn money you pay tax. If you earn a lot of money you pay more tax.”
