The weekly summary of tech policy and politics Issue 32 / 28 May 2021
Feature story
Corporation tax and technology businesses (link - £)
The Treasury is holding back approval for President Biden's global corporation tax plan until assurances are given on measures to specifically target big tech. The basic point is that sales are booked in the UK, but profits may be booked elsewhere, and corporation tax is only levied on profits. That is the idea behind the Digital Sales Tax, which catches sales in scope, rather than just profits.
The UK wants to use the G7 this year as a chance to secure agreement, but that will primarily depend on President Biden's willingness to move on the taxation of tech companies largely based in the US. My money is on willing being lacking.
Amazon has bought MGM (of James Bond fame) for nearly $8.5bn. Primarily the purchase is for the huge back catalog of content - Prime is going to be great viewing. The chief executive of a major streaming service once described Amazon as "terrifyingly good at everything" during a meeting. I don't make any comment on whether it's a good buy, but I wonder if the Digital Markets Unit think this is their territory...
Uber drivers allowed to be represented by GMB (link)
Uber will recognise GMB as a union, allowing them to negotiate with Uber on behalf of drivers. This is a big move considering just a few months we hadn't even had the Supreme Court ruling on the status of drivers as workers. It's the first time globally Uber has recognised any union for drivers.
Paul Dacre, formerly the editor of The Daily Mail, has been rejected for the position of Chair of Ofcom. An appointment panel unanimously declared Dacre unappointable, which is punchy considering he was the Prime Minister's preferred choice. A collective sigh of relief will be breathed by the BBC, Google, Facebook and about everyone else who engages with Ofcom.
Enterprise Management Incentives: HM Treasury (link) - opened 03/03/21.
Next week in Parliament
Parliament is in recess next week, not returning until 07/06/21. So take a few weeks off!
My recent work
Taso Advisory on the Online Safety Bill
We've been doing a lot on the draft Online Safety Bill with our clients. We also hosted a webinar on the proposed legislation and have put together a briefing that has been praised by exec teams at some of the largest tech companies in the world. If you'd like to get your hands on it for free, just take a look here.
Greenstone Research's new website is coming...
We're about to launch our new Greenstone Research website - it's a beaut. If you'd like to sign up for a one month free trial of our service, do please get in touch.
If you'd like a conversation about how either Taso Advisory or Greenstone Research can support you, please just get in touch.
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Ben is the director of Taso Advisory, a public policy consultancy, and Greenstone Research, a subscription research service. Before this, Ben was an adviser to UK government ministers, including two ministers with responsibility for digital and the creative industries.
