UK PM releases tax summary

British Prime Minister David Cameron released his tax details yesterday in a bid to defuse a row over his father's offshore business, but faced further questions over money he received from his mother.

Cameron took the unprecedented step of publishing a summary of six years of his tax returns, and revealed that he got a £200,000 ($280,000, 240,000 euros) gift from his mother, on top of £300,000 in inheritance from his late father.

The 2011 gift from Mary Cameron raised questions about whether it was an attempt to dodge inheritance tax later down the line.

The release came a day after Cameron admitted he had mishandled the situation, telling party activists: "blame me", while hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside Downing Street demanding his resignation.

The gift was tax-free, and would only become liable to inheritance tax of up to 40 percent if Cameron's mother dies within seven years of handing over the money.

The revelations this week appeared to have undermined Cameron's claims to be spearheading a global clampdown on offshore havens.

But he insisted yesterday that Britain was at the "forefront of international action to tackle aggressive tax avoidance and evasion" with the announcement of a £10 million taskforce to scrutinise the Panama Papers.

The force will be led by Britain's tax authority and the National Crime Agency, and will investigate the leaked files from Mossack Fonseca to identify clients suspected of money laundering and tax evasion.

Meanwhile, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said yesterday the unauthorised use of the International Red Cross's name by entities listed in the Panama Papers poses "enormous" risks for its operations and staff.

Peter Maurer made the comments in Le Matin Dimanche, after the Swiss paper detailed how shell companies set up by Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca inaccurately listed the ICRC as their beneficiary.