This week's Commons People Podcast was all about Google, and information we found using Google.
George Osborne hailed it a “major success”, but the deal struck between HMRC and Google was not been as warmly welcomed by others.
The internet giant has agreed to pay £130million in taxes as part of a deal stretching back to 2005, but some experts claim this represents just three per cent of its UK profits over the time period.
Other countries, including Italy, seem to be striking better deals with Google, and the company bosses, along with HMRC officials, will be hauled before Public Accounts Committee on February 11th to explain the arrangement.
David Cameron provoked outrage in Prime Minister’s Questions this week when he claimed Jeremy Corbyn visited a “bunch of migrants” in Calais.
Even Tory MPs were stunned into silence by the remark, and former Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper demanded the prime minister withdraw his remark given it was made on Holocaust Memorial Day.
David Cameron’s hopes of calling the EU Referendum in June this year appear to be floundering, with the PM cancelling a planned trip to Scandinavia to arrange a meeting with European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker
The renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU appears to be stumbling over the thorny issue of migration, with Cameron’s plan to set a salary bar for migrants before they could claim in-work benefits losing support – particularly with the Germans.
If the details aren’t ironed out before next month’s European Summit, it could mean the much mooted referendum date of June could be scrapped.
There was also problems in the Leave campaigns, with rumours that the two at the top of Vote Leave – Dominic Cummings and Matthew Elliot – were subjects of a failed ousting.
It wasn’t a great week for Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.
The Court of Appeal ruled the so-called Bedroom Tax discriminated against a domestic violence victim and the family of a disabled teenager.
Labour asked a Urgent Question in the Commons today, but instead of answering directly, IDS decided to sit whispering in the ear of his junior minister Justin Tomlinson who was tasked with responding from the front bench.
On Wednesday night, another branch of the government’s welfare reforms were defeated in the Lords, with peers rejecting a £30-a-week cut for some on disability benefits, due to come into force in 2017.