Councils should only be allowed to award contracts worth more than £250,000 to UK-registered companies, under plans announced by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Speaking yesterday afternoon, Mr Corbyn said a Labour government would use the public sector’s huge spending power to fund a ‘massive’ expansion in apprenticeships by insisting that private sector firms which deliver public services must pay tax in the UK.
‘All firms with a government or council contract over £250,000 will be required to pay tax in the UK and train young people,' Mr Corbyn said.
‘No company will receive taxpayer-funded contracts if it or its parent company is headquartered in a tax haven.’
A Labour Party source said Mr Corbyn’s proposal was designed to create jobs across local authority areas, as well as central government departments and quangos, and also to ensure that profits earned on taxpayer-funded services were ‘retained and circulated within the UK economy’.
In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Corbyn also promised to establish a system of regional investment banks, operating under a national investment bank, designed to ‘rebuild regional economies’.
