Panama Papers: David Cameron urges George Osborne to publish tax return

George Osborne should publish his tax return in a bid to be transparent over his financial affairs, according to Downing Street. A spokeswoman for the prime minister told the press lobby that David Cameron thought it was right for potential British leaders, the chancellor and shadow chancellor John McDonnell to make the documents public.

As for other MPs, including cabinet ministers and backbenchers, Cameron's spokeswoman reportedly said it was their own choice. The prime minister made the unprecedented move of publishing his tax return on 10 April after admitting to selling a £31,500 stake in his late father's offshore investment trust, Blairmore Holdings, in January 2010.

Former stockbroker Ian Cameron incorporated the company in 1982 in Panama and ran the fund out of the Bahamas. The explosive Panama Papers leak revealed he was a client of law firm Mossack Fonseca.

"We owned 5,000 units in Blairmore Investment Trust, which we sold in January 2010. That was worth something like £30,000," the prime minister told ITV News.

"I paid income tax on the dividends. There was a profit on it but it was less than the capital gains tax allowance so I didn't pay capital gains tax. But it was subject to all the UK taxes in all the normal way. I want to be as clear as I can about the past, about the present, about the future, because frankly I don't have anything to hide."

Cameron has faced increased pressure since the admission and he is expected to unveil a new law to crackdown on tax evasion when he addresses MPs on the afternoon of 11 April. Jeremy Corbyn has promised to publish his own tax return and urged political journalists to do the same.

"I think it's probably a good thing if we move generally in that direction so everybody knows what influences are at play," the Labour leader told BBC One's Andrew Marr show. "I think we need to consider how far it goes, how far it goes to other people involved in public life."

Various reports have claimed Osborne was considering publishing his tax return, but the Treasury had not responded to a request for comment from IBTimes UK.