It is not only our foreign multi-nationals who avoid paying tax in the UK.

My home town formerly was the home of Johnnie Walker whisky - it was a business created and founded in the town in the 19th century and at one time its Red Label was the world's number one brand. The town's name was proudly displayed on every label.

Through several acquisitions (including by the Guinness group - remember them) the ultimate owners became Diageo.

A few years ago Diageo announced that they intended to close down the operation entirely in the town and move it to a new site on the other side of Scotland. At a stroke they eliminated the last major employer in the town and disassociated Johnnie Walker from its roots.

What was less publicised and appeared only in the financial press was that at the same time Diageo transferred profits on making and selling Johnnie Walker substantially to the Netherlands, even though the company's UK operations remained largely unchanged. Corporation tax payments were vastly reduced and Diageo suffered little adverse publicity for this move as the news was hidden behind the plant closure fiasco.

HMRC belatedly decided to investigate the matter.

Apparently they did so vigorously.

It was so vigorous that Diageo not only reduced its overall tax liability to 15% but also that effectively Diageo got a further refund of £75m offset against future taxes as they had thought HMRC would impose a much larger penalty for their actions.

It is unclear how much if any tax Diageo now pays in the UK.