Panama Papers: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says leak shows 'one rule for the rich, one for the rest'

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr on 10 April, Jeremy Corbyn suggested the UK's tax regime requires more transparency and that questions remained over David Cameron's financial affairs

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In an interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that the Panama Papers leak showed there is "one rule for the rich, one for the rest". He also suggested that other people in the political sphere should publish their tax returns to show factors that may be influencing their political decisions.

Responding to questions on Prime Minister David Cameron releasing his tax returns for the last six years, Corbyn said that more questions needed to be answered. "Day by day, a little bit more comes out about the prime minister's tax arrangements," said Corbyn, referencing a series of ever more explanatory statements that came out of Number 10 last week.
Cameron's tax returns also do not reflect the Conservatives' leader income or tax paid prior to his appointment as prime minister in 2010, said Corbyn. However, the Labour leader said that he was not suggesting Cameron had broken parliamentary rules.

Panama Papers responses

Ramon Fonseca, the director of Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers leak, has denied any wrongdoing. He said the firm had suffered a hack on its database and described the leak as "an international campaign against privacy", according to Reuters.
All of those implicated in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' (ICJI) Panama Papers report have been afforded the opportunity to respond. Visit the ICJI's website to read the responses.

Corbyn said that other people in the political sphere should also release their tax returns to show whether there were other influences on their political decisions, "there has to be trust". Though he also said that he had not asked his shadow cabinet whether they had any links to offshore investment.

On the subject of the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, Corbyn said that the UK should be more "assertive" in making them adopt fairer tax policies and stop acting as tax havens. Corbyn said "there are various measures one can take" on these British territories but did not repeat his previous statement that the UK could impose "direct rule" on them.

Corbyn also said that he thought the Panama Papers were "the tip of a very large iceberg".

Labour's Jewish problem

After a series of accusations of anti-Semitism within the Labour party, Corbyn said "antisemitism is abhorrent and wrong" and that anyone making antisemitic remarks would be "auto-suspended" from the party. "There is no place for any kind of racism of any sort in our party," he said.

Corbyn made this statement after Aysegul Gurbuz, 20, a Labour councillor for Luton had posted messages on Twitter saying "Adolf Hitler = greatest man in history" and that Iran should use nuclear weapons to "wipe Israel off the map". At this time, Gurbuz has been suspended from the Labour party.

Ending on the European Union, the Labour leader said that he wanted people to vote to remain in the EU so that they could continue working towards a "social Europe", as well as working keeping protections on worker's rights and the environment.