{"id":11521,"date":"2011-08-16T14:35:30","date_gmt":"2011-08-16T13:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=11521"},"modified":"2011-08-16T14:35:30","modified_gmt":"2011-08-16T13:35:30","slug":"this-is-not-the-case-of-one-rotten-apple-or-even-one-rotten-company-this-is-big-corporate-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2011\/08\/16\/this-is-not-the-case-of-one-rotten-apple-or-even-one-rotten-company-this-is-big-corporate-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"This is not the case of one rotten apple, or even one rotten company. This is big corporate culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Evidence released today<\/a> seems to provide the clearest possible evidence that News International has been far from truthful about the hacking scandal it has been involved in.<\/p>\n

The claim that this was a case of a 'rotten apple' or two - the\u00a0perennial\u00a0excuse of those dismissing corporate\u00a0wrong doing - is blown asunder if the new\u00a0evidence\u00a0is true (and there seems\u00a0little\u00a0reason to doubt it).<\/p>\n

But let's be clear, there's nothing surprising about large corporates\u00a0misrepresenting the truth.<\/p>\n

They do so every\u00a0time they claim to operate\u00a0a business from a\u00a0tax\u00a0haven. That's always a sham at best. Nipping in to Jersey, Cayman, Zug or wherever to sign pre-agreed board minutes does not represent operating a business from these places: it is just a deliberate charade designed to claim that this is the case. Hiring local lawyers to operate a subsidiary for you, and then claiming that they had power to make local decisions when it is abundantly obvious this cannot be true, is just as much a sham.<\/p>\n

And yet this practice is to be found in large numbers of major corporations. If the directors of those companies can believe \u00a0in this charade \u00a0there are two things to say about them. \u00a0The first is that they are willing to turn a blind eye to any abuse \u00a0if it will increase their profits. \u00a0 The second is that they live in a world so far removed from reality that any defence is believed by them to be plausible.<\/p>\n

Don't think what has happened at News International is unusual in\u00a0that\u00a0case: isn't. This is the large corporate world laid bare.<\/p>\n

And it is this sort of abuse that Cameron has to stop now, and very clearly and openly attack, or his credibility in claiming that reform of British society is at the heart of his agenda is shattered.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Evidence released today seems to provide the clearest possible evidence that News International has been far from truthful about the hacking scandal it has been
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