Jeremy Corbyn vows to tackle 'wage cheats' as he meets workers at Sheffield Amazon depot

Mr Corbyn set out his plans to stop companies offshoring their tax bills to ‘lower tax regimes’ with measures to force them to pay their fair share in the UK while on a visit to South Yorkshire.

Speaking outside the Amazon depot in Sheffield, the Labour leader set out his ‘fair tax programme’ to clamp down on tax dodging.

Mr Corbyn said: ‘We’re here to say to big companies that operate in Britain that in future you’re going to have to pay taxes on all your operations in this country – you will not be able to offshore your tax bill to some lower tax regime.

‘I think these are just basic issues of social justice and that’s why I’m here.’

He said that zero-hours contracts would be a ‘thing of the past’ under Labour, and everyone in work would know ‘exactly what their basic income is going to be’.

Mr Corbyn has previously written a birthday card to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, wishing the company ‘many happy tax returns’ and demanding it pays more UK tax and improves working conditions.

An Amazon spokesman said: ‘These claims about Amazon are false. The Government wrote the tax laws and they are designed to encourage investment, and we are investing heavily in creating jobs and infrastructure across the UK – more than £18 billion since 2010.

‘This investment helped contribute to a total tax contribution of £793 million during 2018 – £220 million in direct taxes and £573 million in indirect taxes. ‘This year, we announced plans to create 2,000 new jobs in the UK, taking our total workforce to over 29,500. ‘Our associates receive industry-leading pay, with all employees earning at least £9.50 to £10.50 an hour depending on location.’