Panama Papers: 'David Cameron Is Governing From The Shadows'

David Cameron spent the first half of this week avoiding questions about his financial affairs. He may spend the remainder of his week answering them.

After days of obfuscation and carefully-worded statements, the Prime Minister was finally forced to admit on Thursday evening that he did benefit from an off-shore fund set up by his father. The fact that he disclosed the profit he made from Blairmore, an off-shore fund registered in Panama, reluctantly after sustained pressure from the public and the media makes a mockery of his repeated claim that he would usher in a new era of transparency in government.

Cameron was fond of saying as opposition leader that "sunshine is the best disinfectant." But as Prime Minister he is governing from the shadows.

It is now imperative that he makes public the details of all the shares and investments he held from 2005 onwards, when he became Leader of the Opposition. Publishing his tax returns will only reveal some of that information. He should do this in the spirit of openness that he said would be one of his guiding principles in power.

He chose not to declare the £30,000 profit he made on his Blairmore investment jointly with his wife to the Parliamentary authorities. The guidelines on this can be interpreted in a number of ways, but in essence they rely on MPs to use their own judgment. I believe Mr Cameron probably made the wrong judgement.

But there is a wider issue at stake here about public faith in politicians and the offices they hold. Many people who voted for Cameron nearly a year ago will now be confused about why the Prime Minister didn't say at the outset, when he was first asked about the Panama papers, what he said on Thursday evening.

Any suspicion that the person who makes the rules is playing by a different set of rules from the rest of us is damaging to our political culture and our democracy. He has described the behaviour of public figures who use schemes designed to minimise tax as "morally wrong" in the past and hit out at wealthy people who employ armies of lawyers and advisors to do the same.

Prime Ministers have to be held to the highest standards. David Cameron should show leadership and adopt a policy of full disclosure when it comes to his previous financial holdings in order to restore public faith in his leadership. To do any less would be to retreat into the shadows and hide behind the Downing Street curtains.

Tom Watson is Deputy Leader of the Labour Party