David Cameron to publish tax return after Panama Papers leak

LONDON, April 9 (UPI) -- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron vow to publish his tax returns after his investments in an offshore fund set up by his father were leaked as part of the Panama Papers.

Hundreds of protestors gathered near Downing Street with others outside the Conservative party's Spring forum in London calling to for Cameron to "close tax loopholes or resign."

Cameron said he paid taxes on the shares and promised to be transparent in publicly releasing his tax returns.

"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," Cameron said. "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."

Cameron addressed the crowd and took the blame after he said he profited by selling about $42,000 of shares from his father's offshore fund before becoming prime minister.

"Don't blame Number 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers, blame me," he said.

Cameron's dealings were revealed as part of the Panama Papers leak of information from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, whose El Salvador offices were raided by authorities on Saturday.

"It's not been a great week," Cameron said. "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."