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Vodafone store shut down by anti-cuts activists
Protesters today shut down Vodafone’s flagship shop in London, after it emerged that the government was going to let them dodge £6 billion in tax, just as it is taking £7 billion away from the poorest in the UK through benefit cuts.
Vodafone set up a subsidiary company in Luxembourg to try and avoid paying taxes on its profits at UK rates – its front was paying only 1%. This is against the laws relating to tax avoidance. But HM Revenue and Customs have decided to let them away with paying just £1.2 million to get off the hook, when its profits over the period affected by this tax dodge have been billions. Independent assesment reckons that it’s up to £6 billion lost to the people of the UK.
No surprises then that it was discovered that the head of tax at Vodafone is John Connors, who until 2007 was a top man at the HMRC and is mates with all the people responsible for negotiating to let his company off the hook. Yet again, the government is exposed as working hand in glove with their personal friends in big business, in a collective shafting of the rest of us.
In a future with no Skynet, John Connor(s) is reduced to helping Vodafone doge tax
Except this time, some people decided they weren’t just going to sit back and let it happen. Mobilising over the weekend through the UKuncut twitter, lots of different people got together and moved in this morning to blockade and occupy the Oxford Street store before it could serve a single customer. Vodafone were forced to shut the shop, and it remained closed all day while protesters were outside.
Now they’re calling for people to join them this Saturday by shutting down Vodafone shops across the UK. Whaddya think? Vodafone have kindly provided a facility for you to find your nearest potential protest site. Can Scotland join a wave of occupations against them this weekend? Like their slogan says, Make the Most of Now.
Does someone who has a twitter want to comment on the ukuncut thing and see if anyone else is thinking of doing something in Scotland?
I’ve put out a couple of messages.
Facebook event etc?
let’s do it.
halloween style
Can this be done in time for Saturday?
http://www.youandifilms.com/2010/10/vodafone-dodge-6bn-tax-bill-vodafoneuk-ukuncut/ – seem to recognise a couple of folk in there! although i don’t think your shoes were involved this time jack haha
Thanks liam, i added the video to the article.
in town and up for this..in a halloween mask
had no idea John Connor used to be in the HMRC but Im not surprised, the few doubts I had about this just flew out the window lets shut them down on Saturday.
and not that I doubt it but would you mind sending me the source for the fact he was in the HMRC I haven’t seen this information in any news reports on the subject.
Hi Chris, my original source for the Connors info is the This is Money website who have taken a lead role in breaking this story, and now seem a bit bemused to find themselves associated with a protest movement:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=514832&in_page_id=2
But there’s another article from the time of his appointment here:
http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/news/2188106/top-taxman-ditches-civil
Ultimately the decision to let Vodafone off this bill rested with the HMRC permanent secretary for tax, Dave Hartnett, who Connors formerly worked very closely with. From the 2nd article: