Barclays Bank tax disgrace

Barclays Banks pays the equivalent of just 1% corporation tax in the UK, a mere £115m, due to its fancy tax avoidance schemes.  This in a year when they made £11.6bn profit and paid £1.5bn in bonuses to their staff.


Two years ago Barclays got an injunction against the Guardian in the UK courts to try to keep the papers relating to this story out of the public domain.


It makes me so angry I may join UK Uncut on their protests.  They argue-

• One alternative to the Tories massive public cuts is to clamp down on tax dodging by corporations and the rich, estimated to cost the UK £95bn a year
• Another is to make the banks pay for a crisis they created: last year they paid out over £7bn in bonuses and this year it will be £6bn and just four banks made £24bn in profit

The tax avoided and evaded in the UK in a single year could pay for the £81bn - the amount the Government proposes to cut over the next four-years.  Close libraries and community groups or close tax loopholes - ummm difficult choice.