Google's Schmidt to meet Britain's Cameron as tax row rages

Published
0

LONDON, Fri May 17, 2013 - Google Inc's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is due to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday as a participant of an advisory group just days after UK lawmakers lambasted the Internet company's tax affairs.

The meeting is a routine one and has been long-planned, will include other high-profile business people, and tax evasion is not on the agenda, a government source told Reuters.

Google faced angry questions on Thursday from British lawmakers investigating its tax affairs over whether it had misled parliament in testimony last year, adding fuel to a debate on taxation that has risen to the top of Britain's political agenda.

Google's Northern Europe boss, Matt Brittin, was called back to testify to parliament's Public Accounts Committee after a Reuters investigation showed the company employed staff in sales roles in London, even though he had told the committee in November its British staff were not "selling" to UK clients.

Prominent parliamentarians have questioned Schmidt's continued status as a member of Cameron's Business Advisory Group given what some of them have classed as his company's "amoral" attitude towards paying tax.

The group meets quarterly to give Cameron high level advice on critical business and economic matters facing Britain.

Opinion

Emergency matters

Emergency matters

If this new technocratic setup proves to be successful and efficient, it might just end up increasing centralisation of decision-making.

Editorial

Burnt bridges
Updated 20 Oct, 2026

Burnt bridges

If PPP wants the decision reversed, it should convince its ally in Islamabad, not ask the opposition to be ‘positive’.
Toll on trade
Updated 20 Oct, 2026

Toll on trade

Islamabad must find the right balance between its security priorities and the economic strain on KP’s residents.
French protests
20 Oct, 2026

French protests

SEVERAL European states have witnessed mass protests over the past few days, mostly focusing on socioeconomic...
Eating grass for AI
Updated 19 Oct, 2026

Eating grass for AI

As dependence on AI grows, the bill could reach hundreds of millions of dollars by the end of the decade.
Climate exodus
Updated 19 Oct, 2026

Climate exodus

Climate displacement could then become another source of instability unless governments prepare for it together.
Settler terrorism
19 Oct, 2026

Settler terrorism

ISRAEL’S genocidal violence in occupied Gaza has understandably captured the world’s attention. Yet another...