Links of the week October 26 2020 (44)

It is an intolerable situation that a company that depends on the public services run by the state does not pay an appropriate level of taxes. To add insult to injury, this week it was reported that while the new digital services tax excludes Amazon's earnings from products it sells directly, the services tax is being passed on by Amazon to small traders using the site. It has also been reported, though denied by the Treasury, that the UK might abandon the tax to get a US trade deal. The issue is one of fairness, and making sure big tech is taxed properly needs urgent government attention.

JK Rowling's new book Troubled Blood turns out to be a brutally apt description of the current state of play in the literary world, as a growing number of high-profile authors are becoming embroiled in the transgender war that began earlier this year after she posted a tweet mocking the use of the word "people" who menstruate instead of "women. "We live in an extremely polarized era and this is a matter of piling on what is perceived to be the "right" side," says Lionel Shriver, who was one of 58 names to sign an open letter "In Solidarity with J K Rowling" to the Sunday Times at the end of September. "This has become one of those trigger issues for getting on one's high horse."