Press release: UK Uncut to target Starbucks over impact of government cuts on women
Posted on Mon 12th Nov 2012, 12:01am07415 063231 | 07572 594128
UK Uncut to target Starbucks over impact of government cuts on women
* Activists to turn Starbucks stores into refuges, crèches and homeless shelters
* Announcement comes as Starbucks executives face MPs over tax avoidance allegations
As Starbucks executives face a fierce grilling today in Parliament, UK Uncut [1] has today announced a national day of action targeting Starbucks coffee stores in protest against the government's spending cuts that are hurting women. The announcement comes as top Starbucks executives face the Public Accounts Committee over recent exposes of the company's tax avoidance.[2]
Activists have chosen to target the company as a result of its tax avoidance; taxes they claim could fund public services currently being cut by the government. The action will see Starbucks stores transformed into refuges, crèches and homeless shelters to highlight the disproportionate impact of the government's spending cuts on women. The action will take place on Saturday 8 December, three days after the Chancellor's autumn statement when further spending cuts are expected to be announced.
Sarah Greene, a UK Uncut activist said:
"It is an outrage that the government continues to let multinationals like Starbucks dodge millions in tax while vital services like refuges and rape crisis centres face the axe. It does not have to be this way. The government could easily bring in billions that could fund vital services by clamping down on tax dodging, but are instead making cuts that are forcing women to choose between motherhood and work, and trapping them in abusive relationships."
Starbucks has come under fire after a Reuters investigation disclosed that the company had paid no UK corporation tax in the last three years, despite reporting sales of £1.2bn.[3] The company was also reported to have filed accounts saying the companies UK operations were making a loss, while reporting strong UK profits to investors.
Campaigners have highlighted research showing that women will experience a disproportionate impact as a result of the government's public spending cuts. [4] Women are bearing the brunt of cuts to public sector jobs, wages, housing benefit, childcare, and pensions. [5] Additional hardship on women is being caused by the government's decision to cut £5.6m from violence against women services, £300m from Sure Start centres and a further £10 billion in benefit cuts. Every day 230 women are turned away from refuges as a result of the government's cuts to women's services. [6]
Sheena Shah, a UK Uncut activist said "Women have had enough of being attacked by a cabinet of out of touch millionaire men. The government's savage austerity plans are pushing the cause of women's equality back decades. Welfare, healthcare, Sure Start centres, childcare, rape and domestic abuse services are being cut and female unemployment is rocketing. Benefits cuts are forcing women to choose between heating the house and feeding the family. No one should have to make these choices."
ENDS
1 - UK Uncut is a grassroots anti-cuts direct action network, well-known for targeting corporate tax avoidance: www.ukuncut.org.uk
2 - Troy Alstead, Starbucks Global Chief Financial Officer and Kris Engskov, Managing Director, Starbucks UK will be giving evidence to a Public Accounts Committee evidence session on the Taxation of Multinational Corporations at 3:15pm on 12 November. Representatives from Amazon and Google are also expected to give evidence. - http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/
3 - http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/15/us-britain-starbucks-tax-idUSBRE89E0EX20121015
4 - http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/Gender_Impact_of_the_Cuts.pdf & http://fawcettsociety.org.uk/documents/The%20Impact%20of%20Austerity%20on%20Women%20-%2019th%20March%202012.pdf
5- http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/31/domestic-violence-rape-crisis-cuts_n_2049137.html
6- http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/care/charities-have-to-turn-away-women-seeking-refuge/6520815.article & http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1237
UK Uncut to target Starbucks over impact of government cuts on women
* Activists to turn Starbucks stores into refuges, crèches and homeless shelters
* Announcement comes as Starbucks executives face MPs over tax avoidance allegations
As Starbucks executives face a fierce grilling today in Parliament, UK Uncut [1] has today announced a national day of action targeting Starbucks coffee stores in protest against the government's spending cuts that are hurting women. The announcement comes as top Starbucks executives face the Public Accounts Committee over recent exposes of the company's tax avoidance.[2]
Activists have chosen to target the company as a result of its tax avoidance; taxes they claim could fund public services currently being cut by the government. The action will see Starbucks stores transformed into refuges, crèches and homeless shelters to highlight the disproportionate impact of the government's spending cuts on women. The action will take place on Saturday 8 December, three days after the Chancellor's autumn statement when further spending cuts are expected to be announced.
Sarah Greene, a UK Uncut activist said:
"It is an outrage that the government continues to let multinationals like Starbucks dodge millions in tax while vital services like refuges and rape crisis centres face the axe. It does not have to be this way. The government could easily bring in billions that could fund vital services by clamping down on tax dodging, but are instead making cuts that are forcing women to choose between motherhood and work, and trapping them in abusive relationships."
Starbucks has come under fire after a Reuters investigation disclosed that the company had paid no UK corporation tax in the last three years, despite reporting sales of £1.2bn.[3] The company was also reported to have filed accounts saying the companies UK operations were making a loss, while reporting strong UK profits to investors.
Campaigners have highlighted research showing that women will experience a disproportionate impact as a result of the government's public spending cuts. [4] Women are bearing the brunt of cuts to public sector jobs, wages, housing benefit, childcare, and pensions. [5] Additional hardship on women is being caused by the government's decision to cut £5.6m from violence against women services, £300m from Sure Start centres and a further £10 billion in benefit cuts. Every day 230 women are turned away from refuges as a result of the government's cuts to women's services. [6]
Sheena Shah, a UK Uncut activist said "Women have had enough of being attacked by a cabinet of out of touch millionaire men. The government's savage austerity plans are pushing the cause of women's equality back decades. Welfare, healthcare, Sure Start centres, childcare, rape and domestic abuse services are being cut and female unemployment is rocketing. Benefits cuts are forcing women to choose between heating the house and feeding the family. No one should have to make these choices."
ENDS
1 - UK Uncut is a grassroots anti-cuts direct action network, well-known for targeting corporate tax avoidance: www.ukuncut.org.uk
2 - Troy Alstead, Starbucks Global Chief Financial Officer and Kris Engskov, Managing Director, Starbucks UK will be giving evidence to a Public Accounts Committee evidence session on the Taxation of Multinational Corporations at 3:15pm on 12 November. Representatives from Amazon and Google are also expected to give evidence. - http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/
3 - http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/15/us-britain-starbucks-tax-idUSBRE89E0EX20121015
4 - http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/Gender_Impact_of_the_Cuts.pdf & http://fawcettsociety.org.uk/documents/The%20Impact%20of%20Austerity%20on%20Women%20-%2019th%20March%202012.pdf
5- http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/31/domestic-violence-rape-crisis-cuts_n_2049137.html
6- http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/care/charities-have-to-turn-away-women-seeking-refuge/6520815.article & http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1237
CALL OUT! 8 Dec. Refuge from the cuts - target Starbucks!
Posted on Sun 11th Nov 2012, 12:02am
Please share the Facebook event »It’s time for the government to wake up and smell the coffee. Women have had enough of being attacked by a cabinet of millionaires. But there is a refuge from the cuts. Join us on Saturday 8th December to transform the tax dodger Starbucks into services women depend on, such as refuges and crèches. Check the actions page to find an action near you. If there isn’t one, we’ve got a step-by-step guide on how you can organise one yourself.
On 5th December the Chancellor, George Osborne, will deliver his autumn statement, with even further spending cuts expected to be announced. Women are bearing the brunt of the cuts- particularly low paid women and their families. The government’s savage austerity plans are pushing the cause of women’s equality back decades as benefits, healthcare, Sure Start centres, childcare, rape and domestic abuse services are cut and female unemployment soars.
If the government took strong action to stop tax dodging by companies like Starbucks- who haven’t paid any income tax for the last three years- we could easily afford to prevent the £5.6m being cut from violence against women services, the 25% cut to funding for Sure Start centres and the further £10 billion benefit cuts.
Domestic violence increases at Christmas and during times of economic hardship. 230 women are turned away from refuges every day as a result of the government’s cuts to women’s services. Enough is enough.
Is your local rape crisis centre being closed? Then why not turn your local Starbucks into a refuge? Bring your kids, because 50% of people living in refuges are children. Housing benefit cut? Bring your sleeping bags. Are you working less hours because subsidised childcare is a thing of the past? You could set up a Starbucks crèche.
Check the actions page to find an action near you. If there isn’t one, we’ve got a step-by-step guide on how you can organise one yourself. UK Uncut actions are creative and fun. If anyone is nervous or has any questions, please get in touch by emailing ukuncut@gmail.com – we want as many women, men and children out as possible to show that we refuse to lose these services.
Bring your own coffee... see you on the high streets!
Guest blog: Osborne's tax plans stink!
Posted on Tue 6th Nov 2012, 9:47pmGuest blog: Osborne's tax plans stink!
by Maddy Thomas, UK Uncut activist
“It smells and it doesn’t smell of coffee. It smells bad.” So said Richard Bacon MP of the Public Accounts Committee on Monday in reference to Starbuck’s tax avoidance.
Bacon is right to complain about the unpleasant odour left by the global coffee chain’s tax dodging. Starbucks have only paid £8.6 million in corporation tax![]()
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in the last decade despite racking up £3bn in sales in the UK.
And it’s not just Starbucks ripping off the British public. According to the Independent, last year Google ‘paid £6m in tax on a turnover of £395m while Apple is thought to be paying £14.4 million in tax on more than £1 billion of sales. It has been claimed that a more realistic tax bill would be closer to £570m.’
Yet according to Lin Homer – the UK’s most senior tax official – the government is ‘powerless to stop large multi-national companies like Starbucks and Google from paying almost no tax on their profits in this country.’ Homer’s comments came in response to questioning from the Public Accounts Committee. Next week senior executives from Starbucks are due to face MPs on the Committee to explain themselves.
It’s not only Starbuck’s greed that stinks. George Osborne’s reckless tax plans are sure to get up the nose of anyone who wants a fair and just tax system for this country. The chancellor has said before that he regards ‘aggressive tax avoidance as morally repugnant.’ Now he wants us to believe he’s taking a tough line. In reality rather than being powerless to stop tax dodging, Osborne is making it much easier for mega-rich corporations to avoid tax – money we urgently need to pay for our vital public services.
Here’s how…
1. In the recent Budget Osborne went out of his way to help multinational companies reduce their tax bills dramatically by slashing taxes on bringing money into the UK from subsidiaries in tax havens. The chancellor’s announcement of these new policies will make tax avoidance much easier for multinational companies and banks. The Treasury itself has admitted these measures will lose the public purse £1 billion each year.
2. The government is in the process of to axing a further 10,000 HMRC jobs, on top of 30,000 already cut since the department was formed in 2005. Money invested in HMRC to deal with tax avoidance and evasion brings in £60 for every £1 spent – a very good investment!
3. The government is also set to introduce what it calls a ‘General Anti Abuse Rule’ which by the government’s own admission would do almost nothing to tackle tax avoidance. Instead it risks legitimising most of the tax-dodging done by big businesses like Starbucks or Google. If Osborne was serious, he would propose a real General Anti Avoidance Principle that says if it looks like tax avoidance, it is tax avoidance, and is wrong – this measure would rake in billions.
It is important to recognise that the government wants to look like it's taking strong action to clamp down on tax avoidance because of the public outcry, but are doing the opposite because they believe it’s more important for multinationals to pay low taxes than it is to fund public services.
This explains why, at the same time as the Chancellor is making tax dodging easier, he’s also reducing the amount big business would pay, assuming they’re honest enough to cough up what the law intends. The UK now has the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G7 and Osborne has cut the rate by more than any other G20 country over the past two years – from 28% in 2010 to 22% by 2014.
This country isn’t broke. We must force the government to make mega-rich individuals and corporations pay their fair share. There is an alternative and we can afford our vital public services.
Just imagine how many sure start centres, youth clubs, women’s refuges, hospitals, schools, libraries, houses and other welfare services we could get with the billions avoided in tax every year!
“It smells and it doesn’t smell of coffee. It smells bad.” So said Richard Bacon MP of the Public Accounts Committee on Monday in reference to Starbuck’s tax avoidance.
Bacon is right to complain about the unpleasant odour left by the global coffee chain’s tax dodging. Starbucks have only paid £8.6 million in corporation tax
And it’s not just Starbucks ripping off the British public. According to the Independent, last year Google ‘paid £6m in tax on a turnover of £395m while Apple is thought to be paying £14.4 million in tax on more than £1 billion of sales. It has been claimed that a more realistic tax bill would be closer to £570m.’
Yet according to Lin Homer – the UK’s most senior tax official – the government is ‘powerless to stop large multi-national companies like Starbucks and Google from paying almost no tax on their profits in this country.’ Homer’s comments came in response to questioning from the Public Accounts Committee. Next week senior executives from Starbucks are due to face MPs on the Committee to explain themselves.
It’s not only Starbuck’s greed that stinks. George Osborne’s reckless tax plans are sure to get up the nose of anyone who wants a fair and just tax system for this country. The chancellor has said before that he regards ‘aggressive tax avoidance as morally repugnant.’ Now he wants us to believe he’s taking a tough line. In reality rather than being powerless to stop tax dodging, Osborne is making it much easier for mega-rich corporations to avoid tax – money we urgently need to pay for our vital public services.
Here’s how…
1. In the recent Budget Osborne went out of his way to help multinational companies reduce their tax bills dramatically by slashing taxes on bringing money into the UK from subsidiaries in tax havens. The chancellor’s announcement of these new policies will make tax avoidance much easier for multinational companies and banks. The Treasury itself has admitted these measures will lose the public purse £1 billion each year.
2. The government is in the process of to axing a further 10,000 HMRC jobs, on top of 30,000 already cut since the department was formed in 2005. Money invested in HMRC to deal with tax avoidance and evasion brings in £60 for every £1 spent – a very good investment!
3. The government is also set to introduce what it calls a ‘General Anti Abuse Rule’ which by the government’s own admission would do almost nothing to tackle tax avoidance. Instead it risks legitimising most of the tax-dodging done by big businesses like Starbucks or Google. If Osborne was serious, he would propose a real General Anti Avoidance Principle that says if it looks like tax avoidance, it is tax avoidance, and is wrong – this measure would rake in billions.
It is important to recognise that the government wants to look like it's taking strong action to clamp down on tax avoidance because of the public outcry, but are doing the opposite because they believe it’s more important for multinationals to pay low taxes than it is to fund public services.
This explains why, at the same time as the Chancellor is making tax dodging easier, he’s also reducing the amount big business would pay, assuming they’re honest enough to cough up what the law intends. The UK now has the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G7 and Osborne has cut the rate by more than any other G20 country over the past two years – from 28% in 2010 to 22% by 2014.
This country isn’t broke. We must force the government to make mega-rich individuals and corporations pay their fair share. There is an alternative and we can afford our vital public services.
Just imagine how many sure start centres, youth clubs, women’s refuges, hospitals, schools, libraries, houses and other welfare services we could get with the billions avoided in tax every year!