David Cameron protest stars piñata pig with his face on it
LONDON -- Demonstrators marched on Downing Street on Saturday demanding that Prime Minister David Cameron resign over his family's tax affairs, which came to light with the leaking of the Panama Papers earlier in the week.
Organisers said thousands of people turned up at 11 a.m Saturday, wearing colourful shirts and leis for a tropical "offshore" theme. Along with protest signs and noisemakers, the protesters toted effigies of the animal that has been infamously linked to Cameron -- the pig, of PigGate fame.
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As the protesters marched through central London, Cameron gave a speech to his Conservative party at their spring forum.
He said it hasn't been a great week, which was an understatement. On Thursday he admitted to selling shares of his late father's offshore fund for about £30,000, before he became prime minister in 2010. His admission came after multiple questions and statements since the Panama Papers leak was reported last Sunday.
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In his speech Saturday, he took responsibility for how he handled the situation.
"Don't blame Number 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers, blame me," he said.
Later on, he said he would publish his tax returns. “Later on I will be publishing the information that goes into my tax return, not just for this year but the years gone past because I want to be completely open and transparent about these things," he said.
As he was making his speech, hundreds of protesters surrounded the hotel where the conference was being held, shouting for Cameron to resign, and throwing fake money at the cars of party figures as they left.
Police were present throughout central London. A Metropolitan Police spokesman told Mashable that the protests were peaceful and there were no arrests.
On Twitter, #ResignDavidCameron was trending in the UK as people expressed solidarity and reported on their efforts to get the BBC to cover the protests.
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Some of the protesters had different objectives. While most called for Cameron's resignation, others were calling for tax loopholes to be closed, and indeed the Facebook event created to organise the protest was titled "David Cameron: close tax loopholes or resign!"
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Liza Hearon was the Deputy Editor for Mashable UK. Liza started her career in journalism writing about punk bands for a 'zine in Florida, and her wanderlust has led her to work for news organisations in Russia, Japan and now London. Prior to joining Mashable, she was the European homepage editor for the Wall Street Journal. Liza loves podcasts, karaoke and really, really spicy food.
