AMAZON have been treating the British people like “mugs” after receiving nearly £660 million in government contracts and paying incredibly little in taxes, the GMB said yesterday.

A report released by the union show that since 2015 the controversial multinational corporation has been awarded 36 public-sector contracts worth the whopping figure.

The company received £11m for web-hosting services from HMRC in 2018 despite paying only £1.7m on profits of £72m declared through its subsidiary, Amazon UK Services, in 2017.

The union, which has been fighting to unionise Amazon’s workers, have consistently raised the alarm about how the company treats its staff.

General secretary Tim Roache said: “Amazon are taking us for mugs. They must quite literally be laughing all the way to the bank – they’re making profit from a government that they refuse to pay their fair share of taxes to.

“They refuse dignity and rights for their workers, don’t pay their taxes and the government give them contracts anyway – it’s beyond a joke.”

The findings were commissioned from Tussell, a data provider on British public sector contracts, and come as shadow pensions minister Jack Dromey calls for an HSE investigation of Amazon.

He said: “In November, I met with Amazon and asked them searching questions on their health and safety practices. The answers I received were insufficient.

“I followed up with a letter asking them to agree to a joint health and safety audit with the GMB. They didn’t reply.

“If Amazon’s working practices are as safe as they claim, why will they not agree to undertake a joint health and safety audit with the union? It is the HSE’s public duty to investigate Amazon and protect the health and safety of its workers.”