Hundreds of sarcastic “curses” appeared on social media as speculation on David Cameron’s involvement in the Panama scandal swirled. As the leak began to lose steam, the PM admitted to benefiting from his father’s offshore fund. Result: Twitter meltdown.
The British people got the answer they have been waiting for in an ITV interview aired on Thursday, when Cameron finally admitted to profiting from his late father’s Blairmore Investment Trust.
The confession came five days after leaked documents (named the Panama Papers) revealed the names of tax avoiders from all over the world, Ian Cameron being one.
READ MORE: ‘Panama Papers’ turn up names of rogue US execs
Cameron, however, claims that he sold all of the 5,000 shares he and his wife had owned in the Blairmore Investment Trust back in 2010 – before becoming prime minister. He said that the shares had been worth £30,000 (about $42,000). The PM added that he had received £300,000 in inheritance back in 2010 when his father died, but can’t be sure of where all the money came from:
“I obviously can’t point to every source of every bit of the money and dad's not around for me to ask the questions now.”
The PM admitted to having had “a difficult few days” lately. Well, bad luck, Dave. Seems that these days have only just begun.
The confession quickly backfired on Twitter, with ordinary users, activists, and celebrities using the #CurseDavidCameron hashtag to mock the PM on a number of issues, including corruption and offshores. On a less serious side, many also wished him nasty things and trolled his alleged “love” of pigs.
Some took the opportunity to call out Cameron and the UK’s parliament for hypocrisy:
Some wished their greatest evils on the prime minister… the British way. Sometimes it got pretty serious:
Many avoided using strong words, turning the whole thing into a priceless show of dry British humour:
Some sounded more provocative:
A viral tweet then emerged on the official House of Cards Twitter account, getting swept up in the roaring trend. Those promoting Netflix’s political drama didn’t actually use the hashtag, seeking out a very interesting comment tweeted by David Cameron himself – and replying to it. Ironically, the US show is a remake of a 1990s UK series whose main character “will stop at nothing to become prime minister.”
Most others, however, made incessant swine jokes. Very rude. Oink: