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| Polly Toynbee joins protesters inside the Conduit Street branch of Starbucks (Image courtesy of The Observer) |
byHARRY BLACKWOOD
We've already got it. we just need
to use it properly
WITH the World Cup due to start in
Brazil shortly, it's very appropriate that coffee has been in the news
recently.
Firstly we had the news that Cafe
Nero had been following the long practiced tradition of multi-national coffee
chains and had been avoiding tax. Next up we had Starbucks - the company that
led the way in tax dodging - announcing that it was moving its
European headquarters to
the UK. They cheerfully added that this would mean they would be paying more
tax.
Well, that's jolly good of them.
See, in the past they've not been able to see the benefits of coughing up tax.
Oddly enough they've been unable to see that things like hospitals and schools
and other nice stuff is paid for from tax receipts. So, it's nice that
they've at last seen the error of
their ways and will now be tipping vast sums of money into treasury coffers.
So why the change in attitude from
Starbucks? Have they suddenly developed a guilt complex or taken on a new
philanthropic approach? Have they hell. Since the outcry a couple of years ago
over their tax avoidance, they've been losing customers. This is nothing other
than soft soap PR. Rest assured they'll still be doing their utmost to deprive
the Treasury of as much as they can.
Walk down any High Street and
you'll still see idiots paying through the nose for Starbucks coffee despite
all the publicity and boycotts in 2012. Quite frankly I despair. Our town
centres are awash with coffee shops - both multiples and independents - so why
the hell would anyone choose to give Starbucks their hard earned cash? In fact
why would anyone choose to NOT use an independent?
