5 April action briefing 2 - The public perception of tax avoidance

Our union is taking action on the afternoon of 5 April to mark the end of a week designated as a tax justice campaigning week. It is also the end of the week that sees further increases to our pension contributions and in case anyone has forgotten; we will work longer to get less pension after now twice paying more for this dubious privilege.

Many members asked why there wasn’t more media coverage of the 20 March strike and the simple answer is that it was not through the lack of trying by our union. Unfortunately most of the mainstream media in the UK are owned by or are run by those with a right wing, anti union, agenda.

As members will know, it is our union that has been at the forefront of the tax justice campaign in the UK. We have been highlighting this for a number of years and it is only relatively recently that it has got a higher profile.

What Joe Bloggs thinks

Most, if not all, of the mainstream media still pander to the mainstream Westminster political parties and therefore many members will not have seen or heard about a recent ComRes survey, commissioned by Christian Aid, about the British public’s perceptions around tax avoidance.

It was quite clear from the survey that millions of Britons are now using consumer power to boycott companies seen to be avoiding their fair share of UK tax. Public outrage appears to be growing following recent revelations about the remarkably small amount of UK tax paid by some multinationals.

Some of the key findings of the survey are:

1. 34 per cent of Britons say that they are currently boycotting the products or services of a company because it does not pay its fair share of tax in the UK. Almost half (45 per cent) say they are considering a boycott.
2. 66 per cent Britons now believe tax avoidance to be morally wrong – up 10 percentage points from when people were asked the same question in August 2012.
3. A remarkable four out of five respondents (80 per cent) say that multinationals’ tax avoidance makes them feel angry.
4. 72 per cent of people agreed the government has a responsibility to ensure that all UK-based companies pay the proper amount of tax.

Conclusion

Every PCS member is the Defence Sector group is also a taxpayer; yet we are once again paying the price – this time with the threats to our pay, terms and conditions and the threat announced yesterday of further cuts to the MoD budget in 2015.

The British public now clearly understands the UK has a responsibility to ensure UK plc plays by the rules both home and away. Unfortunately the recent budget announcement that the government is committed to tackling only £4.6bn out of an annual tax avoidance bill of £120bn once again makes a mockery of the ‘all in it together’ claim.

This Christian Aid survey shows that one in three people are actually prepared to change their buying habits and boycott some of the firms seen as not paying their fair share in the UK. The British people also want quality public services and that includes a fully funded and fully resourced Ministry of Defence.

We deserve a Fair Deal – on 5 April, it is time to take action against our employer in the same way the British public are now taking against the Amazons and Starbucks of this world. Stand up and fight for fair pay; fair pensions; and fair terms and conditions.

DEFEND OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS - WALK OUT AT 1.00PM ON 5 APRIL