HSBC leaks: Lord Fink admits he took ‘vanilla’ steps to reduce tax bill – and claims ‘everyone’ is involved in tax avoidance

The Conservatives are facing embarrassment after Lord Fink, the party’s former treasurer, admitted he had taken “vanilla, bland” steps to reduce his tax bill and claimed that “everyone” was involved in tax avoidance.

His intervention in the HSBC row prompted Ed Miliband to claim that David Cameron’s leadership faced a “defining moment” over whether he would disown the Tory peer.

Lord Fink’s surprise admission came after he threatened the Labour leader with legal action if he repeated his claim in the Commons that he had been involved in “tax avoidance activities”. Mr Miliband went on to denounce Mr Cameron as “a dodgy Prime Minister surrounded by dodgy donors” .... http://www.independent.co.uk