SNP demands every member of the UK cabinet declare whether they have benefited from off-shore tax havens

The SNP has demanded the whole UK cabinet declare whether they have benefited from off-shore tax havens in an attempt to ramp up pressure on the Prime Minister.

The leaders of Scotland's main political parties published their tax returns over the weekend. Each opposition leader was paid more than £52,000 for their work as an MSP. Each paid about £10,000 in tax. Nicola Sturgeon’s tax return shows she earned £104,817 in 2014/15, paying £32,517 in income tax. Her only income is the salary she receives as an MSP and First Minister.

Meanwhile Westminster SNP leader Angus Robertson MP has written to Prime Minister David Cameron, saying he “must come clean” over his financial dealings.

RELATED CONTENT

David Cameron to appear in Commons over Panama Papers

New figures reveal 1.5 million households living in cold homes in Scotland

Sketch: The Vote Leave campaign launch

Robertson said: “David Cameron has serious questions to answer and must provide full disclosure of his cabinet – how many government ministers have benefited from tax havens?

“For a government that says it opposes tax avoidance, it would be totally unacceptable for any of David Cameron's cabinet to have pocketed themselves. We have yet to hear from Chancellor George Osborne, or others, despite claims a few months ago from the Chancellor that tax avoiders should be treated as "common thieves”.”

Cameron will appear in the Commons this afternoon to make a statement in response to the so-called ‘Panama Papers’.

The Prime Minister has announced the Government is bringing forward plans to introduce a criminal offence for companies which do not stop employees facilitating tax evasion.

Kezia Dugdale said: "There is an obligation on all of us who seek to serve the public to be transparent. Not since the MPs expenses scandal has there been such palpable anger at the sense of unfairness at the heart of our society.

"Politicians need to not only play by the rules, they need to be seen to be playing by the rules."

Robertson added: “It has been a disastrous week for the Prime Minister, how can the public trust him? Had it not been for the Panama Papers leak we would have been none the wiser- and even then it has taken the Prime Minister several days to clarify he benefited from his father's off-shore trust.

“We also don't know if David Cameron has benefited from his Father in Law's trust. It has been reported that the Cameron family also use the British Virgin Islands tax haven to register the 19,000-acre Scottish Jura estate of Lord Astor, Cameron’s father in law. David Cameron must come clean.

“The Prime Minister has found himself in a dire situation, the only way he can help himself and his government is to be completely honest and transparent once and for all.”