'Blame me'

A protester in London. Photo: AFP

BBC Online

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he could have handled the row over his financial affairs "better", admitting it had "not been a great week".
Addressing the Tories' spring forum, he said he was to blame for the handling of revelations about his holding in his late father's offshore fund.
Days after questions were first raised, the PM admitted this week he had owned and later sold units in the fund.
Cameron also said he would publish information on his tax return later.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the PM had "misled the public" over his financial affairs and "lost the trust of the British people".
'LESSONS TO LEARN'
Addressing Conservative Party activists in central London, Cameron said: "It has not been a great week. I know that I should have handled this better, I could have handled this better.

 

"I know there are lessons to learn and I will learn them.
"Don't blame Number 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers, blame me." Cameron said: "I was obviously very angry about what people were saying about my dad. I loved my dad, I miss him every day.
"He was a wonderful father and I'm very proud of everything he did. But I mustn't let that cloud the picture. The facts are these: I bought shares in a unit trust, shares that are like any other sorts of shares and I paid taxes on them in exactly the same way.
"I sold those shares. In fact, I sold all the shares that I owned, on becoming prime minister."
Cameron continued: "Later on I will be publishing the information that goes into my tax return, not just for this year but the years gone past because I want to be completely open and transparent about these things.
"I will be the first prime minister, the first leader of a major political party, to do that and I think it is the right thing to do."
PANAMA PAPERS
Revelations about Cameron's financial affairs followed a leak of 11 million documents this month held by Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.
The documents, known collectively as the Panama Papers, revealed that Mr Cameron's late father Ian had been a client of Mossack Fonseca when establishing a fund for investors.
A group of protesters calling on Cameron to "close tax loopholes or resign" rallied outside Downing Street before moving on to demonstrate outside the venue where the Conservative forum was held.
A BBC reporter at the scene said they were chanting slogans criticising tax avoidance.
The organiser of the Downing Street protest, journalist Abi Wilkinson, told BBC Radio 5 live the week's revelations raised questions about Mr Cameron's commitment to tackling tax avoidance.
"But the thing that really made us think we had to get out and protest was the news that, in 2013 when the EU were trying to crack down on offshoring and tax avoidance, he stepped in and actually weakened what they were trying to do."
Commons leader Chris Grayling, who is on the opposite side to Mr Cameron in the debate over Britain's EU membership, said those accusing Cameron of misleading the public were making a "mountain out of a mole hill".
'DISARRAY'
At the Conservative spring forum, Cameron said local elections in England and mayoral contests in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Salford on 5 May gave voters a clear choice between "Tory competence and the disarray of the rest".
Only Tory councils could be trusted to keep taxes low while "getting things done" and "delivering more for less", he said.
The Conservatives are defending about 880 seats last contested in 2012.
More than 2,700 seats in 124 councils across England are up for grabs next month in what will be Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's first national test in England at the ballot box.