TAX-OFFICE jobs-wrecker David Cameron exuded tolerance toward his tax-avoiding Tory pop star friend Gary Barlow yesterday.

The millionaire Prime Minister rejected calls for the Take That singer to hand back his OBE following involvement in a multimillion-pound tax avoidance scheme.

Mr Cameron declared that Mr Barlow had done a “huge amount” for Britain.

Tax officers’ union PCS complained that the Barlow affair highlighted the staffing crisis after Tory cuts.

The union is currently holding a strike ballot among its 50,000 revenue and customs members amid a threat of thousands more job losses in the coming year.

Take That star Mr Barlow, whose debut album was entitled Take That & Party, is a keen Tory supporter who appeared alongside Mr Cameron in the 2010 election campaign.

Mr Barlow, two other members of Take That and their manager are expected to repay tens of millions of pounds to tax authorities after their exposure as big investors in tax avoidance schemes.

Commons public accounts committee chairman Margaret Hodge suggested that Mr Barlow might “show a bit of contrition” by handing back his OBE.

But Mr Cameron said in a TV interview: “I don’t think that is necessary, frankly.”

The dodgy PM agreed that “aggressive” tax avoidance schemes were wrong but added that Mr Barlow had raised money for charity and had done “very well” for Children in Need.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka commented: “High-profile cases like these highlight what we have consistently said, that HMRC simply does not have enough staff to do its day-to-day work, let alone devote necessary resources to chasing tax avoiders.”