Danny Alexander attempted to burnish his radical credentials yesterday when he revealed that he had been boycotting Starbucks. After the chain promised to review its UK tax arrangements, he said: “I might be able to buy a coffee from Starbucks again soon”.
But asked by John Humphrys on the Today programme this morning whether he had been boycotting Starbucks, Amazon and Google, all of whom have been accused by the Commons public accounts committee of “paying little or no corporation tax”, Alexander offered a notably different response. “I’m a tea drinker, so I don’t tend to go to Starbucks or other such places,” he said, adding: “I do use Amazon from time to time, or I have.” So was the “tea drinker” ever going to Starbucks to begin with?
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