Speaking at a visit to Infotech in Bangalore, Hyderabad - regarded as an Indian Silicon Valley - the Tory Mayor said: “We all use Google, we all love Google, but here’s the thing. It seems to me the point stands. You either change your tax arrangements or, as I’ve repeatedly said, great corporations that live and work and profit from the society they’re in should do a little bit more.
“It’s perfectly correct that the law as it stands can be used in that way. But they’ve got a PR problem. People feel that a giant corporation like Google makes shed-loads of money should be doing a little bit more.”
Google's managing director Matt Brittin, who was part of the American multi-national tax enquiry, had stung Johnson weeks earlier by saying: “We pay tax and he should look at the broader contribution we make, including the investment in start-ups in London. It’s frustrating that the Mayor of London, who is a great champion of the financial services industry, isn’t championing the technology sector, which has the chance to provide the next wave of growth for London and the UK.”
Between championing the friendship between London and Bangalore's emerging tech industries, the battle between MPs demanding tougher tax from U.S businesses is heating up, in both Westminster and abroad.
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