Hastings and Rye MP linked to '˜tax haven' businesses

The Hastings and Rye MP has been revealed as a director for two offshore companies leading to calls for her to step down as Home Secretary.
Hastings and Rye MP Amber RuddHastings and Rye MP Amber Rudd
Hastings and Rye MP Amber Rudd

Amber Rudd is listed as a director of Bahamian firms Advanced Asset Allocation Fund and Advanced Asset Allocation Management between 1998 and 2000.

There is no suggestion the MP has done anything wrong or used the companies to avoid tax and she has not responded to questions about her role.

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Caribbean countries like the Bahamas have come under criticism as ‘tax havens’ for the wealthy with a number of high profile individuals including former Prime Minister David Cameron, linked to them in leaked documents.

Green Party MEP for the South East, Keith Taylor, questioned whether she is fit to continue as Home Secretary.

“During her brief leadership campaign, Theresa May made clear that she would lead a government that: ‘works for the many, not the few’, gets ‘tough on tax avoidance’, and encourages more ethical business practices,” he said.

“With that in mind, it is difficult to see how she can continue to have confidence in her south east colleague Amber Rudd as Home Secretary.

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“It is important, now more than ever, that the Prime Minister takes firm action to put to bed fears that the UK could turn into a leading tax haven following our withdrawal from the EU.”​

Ms Rudd defended Mr Cameron when he came under fire for his investment in an offshore fund set up by his father in the same country.

No mention was made of her involvement in ‘tax haven’ businesses and now stresses her career in business prior to politics was public knowledge.

A home secretary spokesman told the Guardian: “It is a matter of public record that Amber had a career in business before entering politics.”

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Ms Rudd’s name appears in a cache of company data from the Bahamas, a country which imposes no income, corporate or wealth taxes on investments in offshore companies.

The data, leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, constitutes a list of directors of 175,000 Bahamas registered companies.

Mr Taylor echoed his colleague Green Party speaker on finance Molly Scott Cato MEP’s warnings about the UK becoming a leading post-Brexit tax haven.

“Theresa May made clear that she would lead a government that works for everyone and would encourage a more ethical approach to business.

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“In this context it is difficult to see how she can continue to have confidence in Amber Rudd as Home Secretary.”

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron tweeted she ‘must provide clarity’.

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