'˜Genuinely angry' Cameron slams Labour over Google tax

The Prime Minister said he “disputed” claims that a £130 million back-tax settlement by the internet giant meant it was paying a rate of just 3%.

He said those upset about the firm’s tax should blame Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, who allowed it to pay “zero percent”.

The comments, in angry clashes with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister’s Questions, came with ministers under fresh pressure to justify the deal struck by HM Revenue & Customs.

Italy is said to be about to seal an agreement which will see Google pay a higher proportion of its profits, while Mr Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne and other senior figures are under close scrutiny over their links to the internet giant.

French MEP Eva Joly, vice chairwoman of the Special European Parliamentary Committee on Tax Rulings, said it wanted Mr Osborne to answer questions about the “very bad deal”.

“This bad deal is very bad news for everybody because it shows that the UK prepares itself to become a kind of a tax haven to attract the multinationals,” she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

In the Commons, Mr Corbyn asked the premier whether it was correct that Google’s settlement meant it had an effective 3% tax rate.

Mr Cameron replied: “We’re talking about tax that should have been collected under a Labour government, raised by a Conservative government.

“I do dispute the figures that he gives. It’s quite right this is done independently by HMRC, but I’m absolutely clear that no government has done more than this one to crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.

“Maybe he should start by calling Tony Blair - you can get him at JP Morgan. Call Gordon Brown - apparently you can get him at a Californian bond dealer called Pimco. Call Alistair Darling - I think he is at Morgan Stanley, but it is hard to keep up,” he told MPs.

“Those are the people to blame for Google not paying their taxes.”