SHOULD Cumbria's MPs reveal their tax affairs?

As the political shock-waves of the “Panama Papers” continue to be felt across the world, that question is increasingly being asked.

For buried deep within this mountain of around 11 million leaked documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm are revelations that have been political dynamite - facts so explosive they prompted Iceland's Prime Minister to resign.

In austerity-stricken economies that depend on tax revenue, evidence that senior politicians sought to avoid it was bound to cause a scandal.

The UK's PM David Cameron has felt it necessary to publish his tax affairs after it emerged he benefited from an offshore account which had been set up through the firm by his father.

But is it all a storm in a political teacup? Or does this emerging scandal mark the beginning of a new and welcome era in financial and political accountability?

Carlisle MP John Stevenson said that first and foremost there was no evidence of wrongdoing by the Prime Minister.

“So far as I am aware, David Cameron has done nothing wrong,” he said. “He has run his affairs within the law and paid all the taxes that he owes. “Personally, I'm open minded about publishing my tax affairs if we decide to make that the rule. If I had to reveal my tax affairs, it wouldn't bother me. “But the important thing is that we have to be consistent.

“Everybody should have to do the same thing.

“But we have to be very careful that we don't attack wealth creators.

“That would be dangerous.

“We want people to succeed, and to create jobs, generating the tax revenues that pay for our services. We don't want a politics of envy.”

Asked about the prospect that all MPs may be asked to reveal their tax affairs, Mr Stevenson added: “I suspect there will be a lot of Labour MPs who will feeling very nervous just now.”

The Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron – also the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale – said the Panama Papers were a shocking indictment revealing how many rich and powerful people, while conducting their tax affairs legally, had acted totally against the spirit of the tax system.

He said: “These are powerful people, some with tangential links with politician, who continue in business paying staff who are taught by teachers, paid for by tax; who use health services, paid for by tax; who use roads, paid for by tax.

“Tax is not a punishment. It's the subscription that we have to pay to live in a civilised society.

“This [information revealed by the Panama Papers] creates further breakdown, not just in our trust of the tax system; but also a further breakdown in our trust of politicians.”

Mr Farron said he intends to publish his tax affairs because he wanted to demonstrate his integrity but he accepted that an individual's tax affairs are private he did not call for all MPs to follow suit.

But local people were angry that there appeared to be one system for ordinary citizens and another for those rich enough to employ lawyers to find ways of legally avoiding tax.

“People are outraged by this,” he said.

Mr Farron added: “The big issue is that we have to get the government to do everything it can to tackle this. Everything they have done to date has been further action against those guilty of tax evasion.

“But [the Panama Papers] are full of people who are legally doing it: tax avoidance. What they could do is have an anti-avoidance rule which would mean any scheme set up for that purpose would be cancelled.”

Copeland MP Jamie Reed was out of the country at the time of going to press while Workington MP Sue Hayman was unavailable.