IT seems that eBay, Starbucks, Facebook and Google and scores of other international companies are not paying the correct level of tax (Echo, Oct 21).

The Sunday Times recently reported that eBay made UK profits of about £181m in 2010 which would have produced a corporation tax bill of £51m. But the group is believed to have paid just £1.2m in tax in that year.

At the same time, Whitehall in its desperation to balance the books continues to make alarming budget cuts to our local councils.

The outcome is that that the poor, the elderly and the disabled are the first to suffer.

Instead of our mayors and our council leaders complaining about Whitehall policy how much better people would feel if they said to Whitehall: “We are doing nothing, if you want more money go to Starbucks and eBay etc.”

What we the people should be doing is pestering their MPs with the same message. They would then pester David Cameron who might start pestering Starbucks and eBay etc for more revenue.

Make a stand if you want to keep your libraries, community centres and bus services. There’s plenty of money about, it’s just not going into the right hands.

John Phelan, Howden-le-Wear.