Dame Margaret Hodge has led criticism of the expected appointment of a director of cloud supplier and online retailer Amazon to a senior board role the Department for Work and Pensions.
According to media reports, Douglas Gurr, Amazon’s senior executive in China, is set to become a non-executive director at DWP. However the appointment has yet to be formally announced.
Hodge, the Labour MP who chaired watchdog the Public Accounts Committee during the last parliament, said the prospect of Gurr’s appointment was “disgusting” in the light of Amazon’s record on tax payment in the UK.
“They are killing off British business and jobs, partly because they’re not paying sufficient tax and so are able to undercut their rivals,” she told The Guardian.
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Under Hodge’s leadership, the PAC scrutinised the UK tax affairs of Amazon among others.
DWP declined the opportunity on the grounds that it “did not comment on speculation”.
Sky News originally ran the story that Gurr was expected to be appointed to the DWP’s board in the coming days.
