Paradise Papers: UK opposition leader says Queen should apologise

LONDON: UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suggested on Monday that the Queen should apologise for her private estate investing in two offshore funds, as revealed by the Panama Papers, according to media reports.  

The Paradise Papers were obtained by the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which released them on Sunday. 

The Queen's estate, the Duchy of Lancaster, invested in a fund in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The Queen is not accused of avoiding paying tax and voluntarily pays taxes on her estate, according to reports. 

Corbyn said at the Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) annual conference that anyone using offshore accounts in tax haven countries should think about what impact their actions have on society.

"Well, anyone that is putting money into tax havens in order to avoid taxation in Britain, and obviously investigations have to take place, should do things; not just apologise for it but also recognise what it does to our society. Because if a very wealthy person wants to avoid taxation in Britain and therefore put money in a tax haven somewhere, who loses? Schools, hospitals, housing - all those public services...and the rest of the population have to pay to cover the deficit created by that," he said.

"We simply have to avoid the culture that there's something clever about avoiding taxation, taxation is what gives us ambulances, gives us fire attendants, gives us safety in our lives.

Corbyn was responding to a question by the UK Telegraph's Christopher Hope who asked whether he believed the Queen should apologise for the Paradise Paper revelations about her private estate. 

His office later told the British press the Labour leader did not single out the Queen with his remarks but thought "anyone who puts money into a tax haven to avoid paying tax should acknowledge the damage it does to society".

The Paradise Papers were mostly leaked from the offshore law firm Appleby.