David Cameron is facing mounting pressure to leave his post this week. The Panama Leaks have produced evidence of rampant tax avoidance by the Cameron family business, and attempts to hide that avoidance to protect the Prime Minister’s position. Social media has gone into overdrive, having a field day with a previously teflon Prime Minster who finally seems to be on the ropes.
So far in 2016, the Conservative party, membership and movement is fracturing over the EU, austerity axeman Iain Duncan Smith resigned, the government aided and abetted the collapse of UK steel, and they now face a summer of joint action from teachers and junior doctors. David Cameron’s leadership has the unmistakable whiff of calamity about it.
The Prime Minister’s increasingly ruddy expression after his very public episodes of temper with the press did not go un-noticed.
Dulux have introduced a new 'David Cameron's Face' range to their colour chart pic.twitter.com/Wt3sNo6rud
— Jason Spacey (@Jason_Spacey) June 3, 2015
As for the Prime Minister’s promise not to benefit from tax havens in the future, that really didn’t wash.
https://twitter.com/TiernanDouieb/status/717654914168655872
Protest singer Grace Petrie perhaps spoke for much of the UK with these tweets in the wake of the scandal.
God, these lot in government are just absolute dogshit aren't they?
— Grace Petrie (@gracepetrie) April 5, 2016
I mean, really. Some days I get totally numb to it and then think, no what a bunch of cunts
— Grace Petrie (@gracepetrie) April 5, 2016
Comedian and comedy writer David Schneider captured the potentially The Thick Of It style scenes playing out behind the curtains of Number 10.
https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/717247367502819329
And it didn’t stop there. Here are some of our favourites.
Putting Cameron in charge of the battle against offshore tax havens is like putting King Herod in charge of a maternity unit #PanamaLeaks
— Martin Shovel (@MartinShovel) April 7, 2016
Seems Ian Cameron went to a lot of bother setting up tax haven accounts so that none of his family would benefit from it #PanamaLeaks
— John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) April 6, 2016
With #PanamaLeaks on top of everything else in recent weeks (and years), we should be demanding @David_Cameron's resignation.
RESIGN.— James Blake 🌹💙😷 (@BlakeKM) April 4, 2016
And people weren’t happy with the mainstream media giving the Prime Minister a pass either.
https://twitter.com/justmebeingme4/status/716982928136343552
All-in-all, it seems this latest debacle has undermined not only David Cameron, but much of the UK political class, and the establishment media. They cannot be counted on to fix our grossly unfair tax system, because they are the chief beneficiaries of the unjust status quo. Turkeys are unlikely to vote for Christmas.
But the situation if far from hopeless. There is for the first time in many years, a serious and coordinated political and public opposition to austerity politics. It can be found in the Green Party, Corbyn’s Labour, the SNP and Plaid Cymru. If we want to see what role the public can play in supporting that opposition to power, look to Iceland. The people of Iceland removed their Prime Minister within a week of the scandal. It is not impossible that such spirit and determination comes to UK shores soon.
Get Involved!
You can report David Cameron’s family to the HMRC here.
Join and support the UK Uncut campaign.
Read up on tax at Tax Research UK
Read the information in the Panama Papers
Support The Canary to keep watching the watchmen.
Featured image via Flickr (David Holt) / Times of Malta
