
Thousands of protesters have marched on Downing Street calling for David Cameron to quit in the wake of revelations about his tax affairs.

The embattled Prime Minister was accused of 'hypocrisy' after he finally admitted profiting from more than £30,000 in an offshore tax haven.

After days of pressure, Mr Cameron acknowledged he had benefited from a controversial fund set up by his late father Ian.

In the wake of that extraordinary interview, thousands lined Whitehall today urging Mr Cameron to 'go now'.

Thousands of protesters have marched on Downing Street calling for David Cameron to quit in the wake of revelations about his tax affairs

The protesters stood on Whitehall calling on the Prime Minister to quit after he admitted he profited from more than £30,000 in an offshore tax haven

Protesters stand on Whitehall chanting 'David Cameron must resign / Tax evasion is a crime' following the bombshell revelations this week

Protesters held up placards saying 'Cameron must go', 'Tories out', 'Defy Tory Rule' and 'Time to go chum' outside Downing Street

A smoke bomb is set alight by protesters who shut down Whitehall today as the clamour for David Cameron to resign grew

Demonstrators drew inspiration from events in Iceland where huge pressure forced their PM Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson to resign

Protesters - many wearing Panama hats - arrived at Downing Street carrying placards saying 'he's got to go', 'time to go chum' and 'Eton's mess'.

A huge pig with the Prime Minister's face emblazoned on the front was hoisted into the air above the crowd who chanted 'David Cameron must resign / Tax evasion is a crime'.

Events started at 11am and around 2,000 people are expected at Downing Street over the course of the day.

The protests are being organised around the hashtags 'Resign Cameron' and 'Close tax loopholes', and have gained support from high-profile figures Edward Snowden and Lily Allen.

Speaking to Sun Online, the pop singer said: 'I think he's been dishonest and the trust has gone.

'I just think it's really important that young people take more of an interest in politics so that's why I'm here really. I think lots of people in my position don't because they're scared of the repercussions.'

Protesters drew inspiration from events in Iceland when huge pressure from furious protesters forced Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson to resign after it was revealed his family had sheltered money offshore as the country was almost brought to its knees during the 2008 financial crash.

They also descended on the Tory Spring Conference at the Grand Connaught rooms and four lines of police had to block the entrance to the building.

The organiser of the Downing Street protest, freelance writer Abi Wilkinson, told BBC Radio 5 the bombshell revelations raised questions about Mr Cameron's commitment to tackling tax avoidance.

She said: 'The thing that really made us think we had to get out and protest was the news that, in 2013 when the EU were trying to crack down on offshoring and tax avoidance, he stepped in and actually weakened what they were trying to do.'

Protesters marched to the Tory Spring Conference from Downing Street wearing colourful garments in a nod to Panama

Pop singer Lily Allen was spotted at the protest and said: 'I think he's [David Cameron] been dishonest and the trust has gone'

The pop singer, who has long spoken out against tax avoidance, joined protesters calling for the Prime Minister to resign

The 'Smile' singer was spotted at the protest wearing a camouflage tracksuit, baggy coat, sunglasses and black Nike trainers

The singer, seen clutching her mobile phone, grinned as she joined the crowds in calling for Mr Cameron to resign

A protester holds up a sign saying 'Eton's Mess' as thousands lined Whitehall calling for Mr Cameron to quit

Protesters, many of whom were wearing garish shirts and colourful garlands, chanted their approval for Jeremy Corbyn today

A burly, bald, thick-set gentleman joined in with the crowds demanding Mr Cameron to resign, while holding a 'Time to Go Chum' sign

Earlier chants of Cameron out!' were replaced with calls for the Labour leader to take his place as Prime Minister

A man with a speakerphone and clutching a copy of the 'Socialist Worker' was part of the crowd calling for Mr Cameron's resignation

Just 34 per cent of voters told YouGov they felt Mr Cameron was doing a good job, compared to 58 per cent who disapprove of his work

The baying crowd mobbed a Land Rover that was seen leaving the Conservative Party Conference at the Grand Connaught Rooms

But Commons leader Chris Grayling said those accusing Mr Cameron of misleading the public were making a 'mountain out of a mole hill'.

Speaking today, Mr Cameron promised to 'learn the lessons' from the toxic row over his ownership of shares in his late father's offshore investment fund and insisted voters should 'blame me' over the affair.

The Prime Minister admitted he could have handled questions about his tax affairs better but said he had been 'angry' about accusations made about his father.

Mr Cameron announced today he would release six years of his personal tax returns to persuade the public he was being transparent.

New polls suggest 56 per cent of the public did not believe Mr Cameron had been 'open and transparent' about his tax affairs after his bombshell admission on Thursday night that he did in fact own £31,000 in shares in his father's firm until January 2010.

Mr Cameron said today: 'It's not been a great week. 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.

'Don't blame No 10 Downing Street, or nameless advisors. Blame me. And I will learn the lessons.'

Protesters hold up their placards calling for Cameron 'to go' with Big Ben looming in the background

The protests were organised under the hashtag #resigncameron by activists on Twitter and protestors were asked to wear Hawaii and Panama style clothing in reference to the controversial papers which were unveiled last week

The pressure on Cameron piled up after he told ITV News about a direct link to his father's tax-avoiding fund on Thursday evening

Police were forced to form a human wall to keep the protesters out of the Grand Connaught Rooms, where the PM was speaking today

A protester wielding a placard and with a pig's snout on her face was part of the crowd urging the PM to resign or close tax loopholes

A protester wearing a pig's head and with a colourful garland in a reference to Panama stands outside No10 calling for the PM to go

The Prime Minister, pictured leaving the conference today, admitted he could have handled questions about his tax affairs better

The Prime Minister admitted he could have handled questions about his tax affairs better but said he had been 'angry' about accusations made about his father

A masked protester wearing a Hawaiian shirt stands outside the Grand Connaught Room Hotel where David Cameron was speaking today

The same man had written 'Blairmore Investments' and 'Greed' on his body - the company, run by Mr Cameron's father Ian, was incorporated in the secretive Panama jurisdiction in 1982 and operated out of the tax haven of the Bahamas

A police officer tries to lift a female demonstrator from the floor during today's protests outside Downing Street and the Tory conference

A demonstrator dressed in a werewolf mask holds up a placard reading: 'Let's Huff, Puff and Blow These Greedy Pigs Out!!!!'

Protesters gathered outside Downing Street today - it comes after Mr Cameron had made an extensive statement on his present tax arrangements - but omissions were swiftly picked up on for raising more questions than answers

Protesters gather outside Downing Street today amid revelations about Mr Cameron's tax affairs

Mr Cameron said he was 'very angry' about the accusations levelled against his late father, who died in 2010.

'I love my dad,' he said. 'I miss him every day, he was a wonderful father and I am very proud of everything he did.

'But I must not let that cloud the picture. The facts are these: I bought the shares in the unit trust, shares that are like any other sort of shares.

'I paid tax on them in exactly the same way. I sold those shares, in fact I sold all the shares that I owned on becoming Prime Minister.

'And later on, I will be publishing the information that goes into my tax return - not just this year but for years gone past because I want to be completely transparent and open about these things.'

The collapse in trust in Mr Cameron threatens to wreck Tory efforts to make progress in town hall elections across England and to hold onto City Hall in London when voters go to the polls in a little more than three weeks.

The details of the new polling out reveals a grim picture for Mr Cameron.

Mr Corbyn has warned the public had lost trust in the Premier after he 'misled' them.

Just 34 per cent of voters told YouGov they felt Mr Cameron was doing a good job overall, compared to 58 per cent who disapprove of his work in No 10.

Mr Corbyn holds a narrow overall lead on job approval for the first time - driven by a 40 point collapse in Mr Cameron's ratings and a modest improvement in the Labour leader's scores.

Some 30 per cent of voters said Mr Corbyn was doing well as Leader of the Opposition, compared to 52 per disapprove.

On the specific issue of tax avoidance, Mr Cameron was distrusted by 68 per cent of people to deal with the issue.

Only Chancellor George Osborne scored worse in the YouGov survey.

Mr Corbyn holds a narrow overall lead on job approval for the first time - driven by a 40 point collapse in Mr Cameron's ratings and a modest improvement in the Labour leader's scores

Some 30 per cent of voters said Mr Corbyn was doing well as Leader of the Opposition, compared to 52 per disapprove

No 10 today indicated Mr Cameron would release tax returns dating back to the 2009-10 tax year - the year in which he and wife Samantha sold their £31,000 stake in Blairmore Holdings.

The Camerons made a £19,000 profit on the 5,000 shares and the Prime Minister has insisted all relevant UK taxes were properly paid.

He also accepted that some of the £300,000 left to him by his father may also have come from funds lodged offshore.

Mr Cameron made the revelation on Thursday night after dodging questions on his financial affairs.

Earlier in the week, Mr Cameron had made an extensive statement on his present arrangements - but omissions were swiftly picked up on for raising more questions than answers.

Downing Street spent all week dealing with questions on the Prime Minister's tax affairs following revelations last Monday that Ian Cameron was named in the so-called 'Panama Papers'.

His father's investment fund, Blairmore, was named after the house in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, where Ian Cameron was born in 1932.

The company was incorporated in the secretive Panama jurisdiction in 1982 and operated out of the tax haven of the Bahamas. The firm hired Bahamas residents, including a bishop, to sign off paperwork and held meetings in the Caribbean.

The arrangement, while legal, allowed the company to avoid paying UK tax for decades.

The fund also made use of 'bearer shares' which enable people to hide their assets.

On Monday No 10 said the Cameron family's dealings in Blairmore were a 'private matter'. The Prime Minister and Downing Street then issued three further statements over the following 48 hours in a bid to close down the growing controversy.

But on each occasion, they avoided key questions about whether the PM's family had benefited from offshore investments in the past.

As the questions continued to mount, Mr Cameron finally decided to make a full statement of his affairs in an interview on ITV News.

Following that revelation, Mr Corbyn has led calls for Mr Cameron to explain himself in Parliament on Monday while some Labour MPs have demanded the PM resign over the row.

Bassetlaw MP John Mann has referred the affair to Parliament's sleaze watchdog with questions about whether Mr Cameron should have detailed his ownership of the shares on his House of Commons register of interests.

Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson said the Prime Minister should repay at least part of the profits he made from offshore investments – and questioned why he had taken six years to reveal them.