Cameron's father 'used tax havens to build family fortune'

David Cameron's late father ran a network of offshore investment funds to help build up the family's fortune, it was claimed last night. Ian Cameron, a stockbroker, set up funds in tax havens such as Panama City and Geneva, and boasted of their ability to remain outside UK tax jurisdiction. There is no suggestion he acted illegally.

When he died in 2010 aged 77, Ian Cameron left £2.74m in his will; the Prime Minister received £300,000. The methods used by Ian Cameron from 1979, when controls on taking capital out of Britain were scrapped, are now common among hedge funds. UK residents have to pay tax on profits they repatriate, and there is nothing to suggest the Cameron family did not. But the timing of the revelation by The Guardian newspaper may embarrass the Prime Minister. Labour claims that last month's Budget, which cut the top rate of tax from 50 to 45 per cent, showed the Tories are the "party of the rich" whose leaders are "out of touch".

Downing Street said it did not want to comment a private family matter. A spokesman added: "The Government's tax reforms are about making sure that some of the richest people in the country pay a decent share of income tax."