Green Party launch online petition calling for an end to £125,000-a-month deals with Vodafone

Published: 24th February, 2011
by RICHARD OSLEY

THE Green Party is launching a bid to persuade Camden Council to tear up deals with Vodafone because it says the mobile phone giant does not pay its way in taxes.

Councillor Maya De Souza and party organiser Natalie Bennett, the journalist who stood against Labour’s Frank Dobson in last May’s general election, say that if companies like Vodafone paid more corporation tax then services such as libraries and nurseries in Camden would not be facing closures.

Tax from big companies should filter down to local authority level and be used to protect public spending, they argue.

The Town Hall pays monthly bills to Vodafone in a series of deals, including mobile phone use. Spending details show that as much as £125,000 can be paid to the company over a month-long period.

Vodafone, like Boots and TopShop, has been targeted by anti-cuts campaigners who say that unpaid tax bills were “negotiated away” in a deal with government inspectors.

Protest group UK Uncut organised sit-ins during peak shopping hours at their stores earlier this year.

Vodafone says the attention is unwarranted and that the claim that it has escaped paying due taxes has become an “urban myth”. It was all fairly negotiated, the company maintains.

The Greens have organised an online petition ahead of Monday’s full council meeting. They hope to win the support of residents upset by Town Hall cuts and councillors from other parties who feel big companies are not paying a fair share in taxes. 

Several Labour councillors have indicated they are sympathetic to the idea that Camden should not be pushing its business in the direction of the company.

Cllr De Souza said: “A £6billion bill that Vodafone negotiated away could have made huge differences in Camden, where slashed government funding is threatening essential services on which we all rely. 

“The council should ‘vote with its feet’. We need to make it clear to major companies – particularly those on which we all rely such as utility companies and banks – that they need to make a fair contribution to the society from which they make their profits. 

“Indeed, they should recognise that without making a fair contribution that will keep people in jobs and able to pay their bills, their businesses are unsustainable. We ask all Camden residents to sign our petition today – and if they have any contracts with Vodafone to consider their position as soon as possible.”

It is not known how many councillors in Camden hold Vodafone contracts for their personal mobile phones, although it is thought the number is in double figures.

Vodafone is one of the world’s leading telecommunications firms and, among local authorities, Camden is not alone in using it. Neighbouring Islington has a regular deal with the company.

A spokesman for Vodafone said: “It is a pity that Camden’s Green Party did not contact us before starting this petition. They haven’t bothered to check their facts. Their claims are fundamentally untrue and misleading. We would have welcomed engagement with Ms De Souza.”

He added:  “We pay all the taxes we’re re­quired to in this country. In fact, we pay over £700million into the UK coffers every year in tax, VAT, PAYE, national insurance and fees we pay for our mobile phone spectrum.” 

That is the equivalent of paying for 34,000 nurses or 32,000 teachers, the firm claims.