Britain’s tough tax rates led to it losing out on a £320 million new COVID-19 vaccine facility, AstraZeneca’s chief has said.
Pascal Soriot said his drugs group chose Ireland as the base for its new state-of-the-art factory owing to the Republic’s low tax laws and commitment to green energy.
Addressing the pharmaceutical chief’s comments on Friday, British Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the government was “disappointed” by the decision.
However, he said the UK would not consider tax cuts “funded by borrowing.”
“We’re disappointed that we lost out this time and we agree with the fundamental case they’re making which is that we need our business taxation to be more competitive and we want to bring business taxes down,” Hunt told broadcasters at a science facility in London….