Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The shadow chancellor John McDonnell has told the Today programme a Labour government would make clear to overseas territories that if they wished to benefit from their relationship with the UK they would have to have the "minimum standards of openness and transparency".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable says: "Well it is pretty shocking actually. You can understand why the British public are very angry about it.

"I think it is a bizarre anomaly that Britain is still responsible for a substantial number of territories around the world, which operate freely as tax havens in such a way that large sums of money that would otherwise go to the British Treasury are siphoned off somewhere else."

Today Programme
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Bermuda Premier Mr Burt continues: "I think her Majesty the Queen, just like any other person, should be able to invest her money where they like."

He adds: "We are an internationally recognised leader in tax transparency."

According to the Australian ABC network, mining firm Glencore, which among other things is Australia's largest coal miner, has been named in the Paradise Papers. Read the ABC story here, external.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

David Burt, the Premier of Bermuda, tells the Today programme: "I think that what is most important is the fact we have a robust regulatory regime, which ensures that the money that is coming into Bermuda is clean and that robust regulatory regime has been shown to be effective.

"Bermuda has had the same tax system, which we’ve had since 1898, this tax system is one where [if] we speak about no taxes I think it’s inaccurate… for people and individuals to say Bermuda is a tax-free jurisdiction - it just doesn’t match with the facts."

Royal finance expert David McLure, who appeared on the Paradise Papers Panorama TV programme, says the Queen will not have had any input with regards to her money being invested offshore by the Duchy of Lancaster estate

"She has very little day-to-day running of the estate," he says.

"Traditionally it has been a very arm's-length relationship between the Queen and the Duchy of Lancaster."

Journalists and commentators have been discussing the revelations that the Duchy of Lancaster - which handles the Queen's investments - has made offshore investments in the heavily-criticised rent-to-buy retailer BrightHouse.

Recently the retailer was accused of exploiting the poor and was forced to pay £14.8m to consumers.

The Duchy said that the Queen's investments amounted to £3,208, but some argue it is still incredibly damaging.

ITV's political editor Robert Peston said he was "staggered" officials did not stop the Queen's money being used to invest in BrightHouse.

"[It] will be seen as an insult to millions on low and stagnating incomes," he added.

Buzzfeed political editor Jim Waterson said the indirect investment was "so small but so damaging".

The Paradise Papers leaks included information about more than 3,000 Canadian individuals and entities. Click here, external for the National Post newspaper's coverage.

Image source, PA

BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell says: "It is not a question of tax avoidance, but of judgement on behalf of her advisers."

He said many would be saying that Brighthouse and Threshers "were not something the Queen's money should be invested in."

He added: "There will be meetings and questions being asked within Buckingham Palace this morning."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, who has campaigned for changes in tax law, tells Today: "I think the Queen herself would be completely shocked to find that her advisers have used tax havens in which to invest their money and that her reputation has been sullied by the actions of the tax advisers.

"The second thing I think what this demonstrates is how ingrained in our culture - this moving your money around the world – how ingrained this has become into the culture and accepted. And that’s what’s wrong with it."

Andrew Walker
World Service economics correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The BBC's World Economics correspondent Andrew Walker has been looking at the revelations surrounding the Queen.

About £10m ($13m) of the Queen's private money was invested offshore, including in two UK businesses: Threshers off-licences, which went bust, and Brighthouse, a chain accused of irresponsible lending.

"There is no suggestion any of this was illegal," says our correspondent.

"It is more about whether people think it is the right kind of thing for the Queen to be investing in."

Image source, AFP

There's been some political reaction in the US to the leak of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross's involvement in a company with financial ties to the Kremlin. A Democratic Senator, Richard Blumenthal, described the connection as jaw-dropping.

"I'm astonished and appalled because I think our committee was misled," he told NBC television. "The American people were misled. We will be formulating a strategy going forward because of this jaw-dropping new information. This kind of report is really a bombshell."

Here's what happened so far:

• There has been a massive leak of documents, mostly from one leading financial law firm based in Bermuda
• The 13.4 million documents shed light on how the super-rich and powerful of the world hide their wealth to avoid paying tax
• In the US, Wilbur Ross, commerce secretary in Donald Trump's administration, has business links with Russian allies of President Vladimir Putin who are under US sanctions
• In Canada, Stephen Bronfman, chief fundraiser for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's party is linked to offshore schemes that may have cost the nation millions of dollars in taxes
• About £10m of Queen Elizabeth II's private money was invested offshore
• Questions have been raised about the funding of a major shareholding in Everton Football Club

You can explore all the BBC's stories in one place here and if you're in the UK you can watch BBC Panorama's special edition on the leaks here.

There will be live page coverage today, and a further Panorama programme tonight with more revelations.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Mr Barnett continues: "I think if most people look inside their own pension funds they would find that the thing that the Duchy of Lancaster is alleged to have invested in, they probably have some of it themselves.

"I think the headline today is that the Queen has invested in a perfectly normal investment and will pay tax as and when it gets cashed in."

BBC Radio 5 live

While a number of offshore tax havens have come under the spotlight with the publication of the Paradise Papers, we can be proud of our own tax authorities says a leading figure at the CBI.

"The HMRC work hard to make sure people are paying a fair amount of tax here in the UK," says Rain Newton-Smith, the business body's chief economist.

"I don't think we have a particular problem here in the UK."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

John Barnett, head of private client services at the law firm Burges Salmon LLP, tells the Today programme: "There are very few countries still which offer tax secrecy, almost all countries - I think there is only about six or so left which won’t by the end of 2018 be signed up to the new common reporting standard - which is a standard where all countries around the world will automatically share information between tax authorities so that the home country can know exactly who’s invested in other places."

Image source, Guardian

Many of Monday's front pages focus on the revelations about the Queen's offshore investments, contained in the Paradise Papers.

There are nine pages of in-depth coverage about the Paradise Papers in the Guardian, external, which explains that the offshore investment industry has grown exponentially since the 1970s, developing into what it describes as a "sprawling kingdom for the rich".

"Queen's personal wealth is invested in Cayman tax haven" is the headline in the i, external, while in the Daily Mail, external it is "Queen's £10m pound tax haven scandal".

Read more

Good morning. A massive leak of documents has shed light on how the world's powerful and super-rich, including the Queen's private estate, secretly invest vast amounts of cash in offshore tax havens.

The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains 13.4m documents, mostly from one leading firm in offshore finance. BBC Panorama is part of nearly 100 media groups investigating the papers.