FMQs: Greens call for end to Amazon subsidies
Amazon should be stripped of all Scottish subsidies and procurement contracts after revelations about the firm scrapping laptops televisions and face masks, the Scottish Greens have said.
The party’s co-leader Lorna Slater raised the issue with the First Minister at FMQs after an ITN investigation revealed up to 130,000 items a week were being destroyed at the Dunfermline warehouse rather than given to charity.
The news is just the latest example of bad practice by the mega-corporation, which has included poor wages, anti-trade union measures and the avoidance of tax.
Despite this the Scottish Government funds Amazon through Scottish Enterprise and for the company’s web services.
Lorna Slater said: “This is not the first time Scottish Greens have challenged the government on the levels of subsidy given to Amazon. As well as avoiding tax and the appalling treatment of workers, we now know this company would rather scrap millions of new items rather than give them to people in need.
“This is a time when public money should be going to small companies and those who need to recover from the pandemic, not to a mega corporation whose net profits were over $20 Billion in 2020 alone.
“At the heart of this obscene level of waste is an economy that puts a disposable, throwaway culture above the needs of people and the planet. That’s why we need a recovery that enshrines the circular economy in robust laws that will prevent such needless volumes of waste in the future.”