UK Uncut hacks Vodafone charity site over tax

A website that trumpets the charity work of Vodafone has been hacked by activists working for UK Uncut, a group opposed to the government's budget cuts.

Vodafone's World of Difference website consists of a number of blogs written by people to whom the mobile phone company has donated grants to carry out charity work.

According to UK Uncut, a "small group" of these people leaked the master password for the blogs to activists, who at 12pm today posted photos and videos of the group's protests at Vodafone stores across the country.

Visitors to Vodafone's corporate social responsibility website could also learn how some of the cuts could be avoided if the government "chose to make Vodafone to pay its tax".

One blog was titled: "Vodafone's Tax Dodge £6bn. Cuts to charities £5bn."

Vodafone came to an agreement with the UK taxman after a long legal struggle which allowed it to escape an estimated £6bn in tax relating to the mobile phone giant's acquisition of Mannesmann.

The investigation, reported by Private Eye last year, has made Vodafone a prime target for UK Uncut, who believe the harsh government budget cuts could be avoided if businesses were forced to pay their tax.

One of Vodafone's charity bloggers, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "Vodafone make a big deal out of their funding to charity, but their charitable giving pales into insignificance compared to the £6bn they got away without paying in tax.

"I work for a charity and understand how the government's brutal spending cuts will hit the poorest and most vulnerable. So many charities, including mine, are under threat. Vodafone's tax dodge alone could pay for every cut to every charity in the country."

Fiona Samuels, 31, a spokesperson for UK Uncut said: "These cuts are not necessary, not fair and there are alternatives. People across the country are angry and willing to fight to prevent unprecedented cuts to public services."

Vodafone, which denies it ever owed the £6bn in tax, swiftly took its charity blogs down, a decision lamented by @UKUncut on Twitter, which posted: "Boo Vodafone's taken all of their blogs offline. We were having fun!"

Vodafone responded to the hack in a statement, saying: "We've seen a couple of posts this afternoon on World of Difference winners' blogs relating to allegations of tax avoidance. Given these are incorrect, they have been removed.

"World of Difference winners are doing great things for charities up and down the country. It's very sad to see how low people will go to further spread misinformation and for the charitable programme to be used as a platform for this kind of protest." ·