Vince Cable criticises foreign firms over tax Vince Cable said that some multinationals are 'systematically abusing' the UK tax system. The chancellor should use his autumn statement next month to "get to grips" with growing evidence that multinational corporations are "systematically abusing" the UK tax system, business secretary Vince Cable saidon Thursday. "Some of them do seem to be avoiding tax systematically - and this is deeply angering," said Cable. There are tens of thousands of British companies who do pay their tax properly. We have got to get to grips with it. However, he added it was impractical to suggest George Osborne could act without international support. Cable's remarks came as a growing number of British business leaders joined John Lewis chief executive Andy Street in speaking out against the way international tax rules are aggressively manipulated by multinational groups seeking to massage down their tax bills. Those accused of such behaviour in recent weeks have included Starbucks, Google and Amazon. Street said that online multinationals such as Amazon were "destroying the UK tax base." Not only were these firms able to cut their own UK tax bill, but they were leaving British businesses with more straightforward taxable operations at a competitive disadvantage. Mothercare chairman, Alan Parker, who until two years ago ran the company behind Starbucks' rival Costa Coffee, said he supported the view of the John Lewis boss: "Our objective is to beat our competition to provide the best possible value to our customers. Unfair pricing from international UK tax dodgers puts our long-term ability to survive and grow under threat. Mothercare is Britain's largest maternity and child-focused retailer with 280 stores in the UK. It has been retreating from the high street and will close 50 shops this year amid fierce competition from the likes of the Amazon Family website, which offers discounts on everything from nappies to pushchairs and car seats. Sebastian James, chief executive of Dixons, tweeted: "I agree with Andy Street: retailers making profits in the UK should pay tax in the UK." Dixons' closest rival, Comet, went bust this month. Joint administrator Neville Kahn of Deloitte, commented: "It has become increasingly difficult for [Comet] to compete with online retailers which don't face the same overheads." Another outspoken opponent of current international tax arrangements was Mark Constantine, founder of retail chain Lush. He said: "Companies like Amazon rely on not paying tax for their base business model. This kind of piracy is destroying the British high street. Andy Clarke, head of Asda, which is part of multinational group Wal-Mart, sought to defend its tax affairs. Asda's UK taxable profits are reduced by annual royalty payments of more than £120m to its US parent. He declined to comment on the impact of rivals' tax arrangements on the high street landscape, stating: "We pay an appropriate level of tax and a significant amount of corporation tax ... I think it's important we continue to pay our part." The royalty payments cover the cost of support such as IT services which Asda receives from Wal-Mart, Clarke explained. Last year Asda paid £163m of corporation tax and said it had paid a total of £886m over the last five years. Last week chancellor George Osborne and German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble issued a rare joint statement in support of changes under way at the OECD, which sets the guidelines for international tax. They admitted existing arrangements "have had difficulty keeping up with changes in global business practices, such as the development of e-commerce in commercial activities." Many tax campaigners and developing economies fear the OECD's planned reforms will not go nearly far enough. Meanwhile, with public anger running high in the wake of a Reuters investigation into the UK tax affairs of Starbucks, Revenue & Customs head Lin Homer appeared before a committee of MPs to this week, facing questions on whether British tax authorities were going soft on multinational firms. All that HMRC can do and all that you would want us to do is apply the laws. I acknowledge that in an international setting, multinational businesses can choose, to some extent, where some parts of their business are based and where some of their profits are based ... I think that that is hard for individuals to understand. It is one reason why the chancellor and his colleagues want to make sure that OECD stays ahead of that game and does not allow an inappropriate amount of moving-around activity that would undermine the good tax systems of most of the countries involved.