Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Friday, December 10, 2010

Protesting tax avoidance in the UK

At a time when the coalition government is proposing large-scale cuts in government spending and programs, a populist movement to plug tax loopholes is gaining strength.

UK Uncut targets Topshop and Vodafone over tax arrangements

With superglue and megaphones, pop-up protests forced several branches of Topshop and Vodafone around the country to close today on one of the busiest trading days of the year.

Campaigners staged a sit-in at Sir Philip Green's flagship London Topshop store, and in Brighton a few glued themselves to the branch windows, while other high streets in towns and cities across Britain saw similar protests in a day of action against the tax arrangements of rich individuals and big businesses.

Green, the Arcadia retail group tycoon, and other wealthy individuals and big businesses including Vodafone, Barclays and Boots are the focus of rising anger over the programme of government cuts that campaigners say could be avoided if tax dodging was stamped out, bringing in some £25bn a year to the public purse and making a sizeable dent in the national debt…

The billionaire Green, recently made an adviser on cuts by David Cameron, is under fire because his wife, Arcadia's direct owner, lives in the tax haven of Monaco.
The latest tax avoidance protests took place in Birmingham, Glasgow, York, Bristol, Manchester and Nottingham, under the banner of UK Uncut – a fast-growing movement that is gathering support via social networking sites…

Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "People are rightly angry that the government is targeting the most vulnerable in our society with massive cuts in spending, and yet it appears to be very relaxed about rich and powerful tax dodgers."

Topshop's flagship London store hit by tax protest

Campaigners against tax avoidance by big business forced Topshop's flagship store to close temporarily as they took action in 21 towns and cities…

Topshop boss Sir Philip Green's wife, the firm's direct owner, has been criticised for living in a tax haven...

Activist Benjamin Neem, 30, said: "Philip Green is a multi-billionaire tax avoider, and yet is regarded by David Cameron as an appropriate man to advise the government on austerity.

"His missing millions need to be reclaimed and invested into public services, not into his wife's bank account."…