Now act on this divine intervention

THE majority of companies play by the rules. They pay their fair share of taxes, treat staff well and contribute to society. Then there is Amazon. This US giant has become the poster boy for all that is wrong with capitalism. The world’s second trillion-dollar company has grown rich by abusing its near monopoly position, exploiting workers and gaming the tax system.

Millions use its services but millions more are worse off because of its business practices.

Which is why it was welcome to hear the Archbishop of Canterbury call out Amazon for leeching off the state. As Justin Welby pointed out in his speech to the TUC, when such a firm fails to pay its fair share of tax, we all suffer.

It is left to the rest of us to pick up the bill for the training of their staff, the NHS on which they rely, the roads on which they travel and the defence that keeps them safe.

RESPONSIBILITY

Amazon wants all these benefits but to bear none of the financial responsibility. This is a firm that had UK sales of more than £8billion but paid just £4.6million in tax. Using complex accounting, it shifts revenues to Luxembourg and other tax havens to minimise its bill. It may be legal but it is ethically abhorrent.

Meanwhile, high street stores are going bust in the face of this unfair competition. Small firms, many owned by the same family for generations, are driven out of business because of the behaviour of this online behemoth.

And this is not the only stain on Amazon’s reputation. A Sunday Mirror probe revealed how workers were falling asleep on their feet because of long hours and impossible targets.

We must call time on this corporate bully. Yet to date, the response has been pathetic.

Ministers should force it to publish revenue from UK operations and tax it on that. They should also cancel all Government contracts with the firm until it stops using tax havens.

You would like to hope even the worst sinners are capable of redemption. Perhaps Amazon bosses will have heard the Archbishop and reconsider their unholy behaviour.

But given their record, there is more chance of a camel passing through the eye of a needle.