Tax fat cats

AT MIDDAY dozens of protesters who’d been waiting quietly inside the store stood up, unfurled their banners and leaflets and began chanting “Starbucks – pay your taxes! Starbucks sucks money from the UK! Boycott Starbucks – tell your friends!”

This demonstration was just one recent example of anger being expressed against greedy companies.

Starbucks, Amazon and Google are among those big companies that make plenty of money in the UK but won’t contribute to the building of roads, or the upkeep of the NHS – because they dodge taxes.

It’s not fair! Why should they enjoy our business, but not pay their way?

Perhaps even though we think it’s okay for people to make as much money as they can, when we see how they go about it we are shocked.

Of course it makes sense to avoid tax if you can do. That’s how you build up lots of cash in the bank, isn’t it? But when we see greed in action it shocks us.

We can see that it actually corrodes society rather than building it up. “Greed is good”? Not when your hospital is closing because the fat cats diddled the system.

Cough up you fat cats! Even Jesus paid his taxes.