INVESTIGATION INTO MCDONALD'S TAX AFFAIRS

That this House welcomes the announcement made by Margrethe Verstage, European Commissioner for Competition, of the launch of a formal investigation into tax rulings made by authorities in Luxembourg in respect of the global fast food giant McDonald's; notes that the authorities in Luxembourg are accused of offering unfairly favourable tax arrangements to McDonald's, effectively constituting unlawful state aid; further notes that, had royalty fees paid to Luxembourg from the UK been subject to taxation in the UK, the UK exchequer would have received an additional £75.7 million over the last five years; asks that the investigation to examine the role played by Luxembourg's then Finance Minister, Jean Claude-Juncker in facilitating these arrangements; and commends the campaigning coalition involving War on Want and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union on their efforts to highlight this apparent abuse, and calls on the Government to do everything in its power to ensure that all corporations pay their fair share of tax.