• PEOPLE are fed up with large multi-national companies avoiding paying tax and it is deeply distressing that this week the government refused to back a Labour motion to set a global minimum rate of corporation tax.

The UK is the only country in the G7 group not to have backed the plan put forward by US president Joe Biden.

Despite their business success in the UK, profit shifting to Luxembourg meant Amazon’s corporation tax contribution in the UK in 2019 was less than 0.1 per cent of its turnover. This goes against the fairness that must be at the heart of our tax system.

In this year, of all years, when so many businesses are struggling to get back on their feet while Amazon’s business booms, it is clearer than ever that change is long overdue.

It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to grasp international agreement on the taxation of global multi-nationals. Yet, rather than stepping up to the challenge, the Conservative government is stepping away.

Labour’s motion would have required ministers to publish a review on the impact of the proposal for a 21 per cent corporation tax over both 2022 and 2023, and for a corporation tax rate of 25 per cent for the year 2023.

We need basic fairness in our tax system and the Conservatives’ refusal to back this practical and common-sense proposal tells you all you need to know about whose side they are on.

CLLR PAUL DIMOLDENBERG
Labour, Queen’s Park ward
Westminster City Hall
Victoria Street, SW1