Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson Rails Against Amazon Investment in Deliveroo

Labour’s Tom Watson calls for an investigation into Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo

Amazon’s investment in London restaurant delivery giant Deliveroo, part of a new £475 million round of fresh cash, has prompted the deputy leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson to call for an investigation by the Competition and Markets authority. The MP tweeted: “Deliveroo’s ceo Will Shu welcomes a land grab by Amazon because ‘it is such a customer-obsessed organisation’. He’s right, Amazon is obsessed. Obsessed with tracking tools, micro-targeted ads, extracting billions through monetising our personal data.”

He added that Amazon’s move was cynical and driven by greed. “They don’t want to get their mighty claws on a food delivery system. They want Deliveroo’s tech and data,” he said. “They don’t just want to know how you eat, what you eat, when you eat. They want to know how best to extract your cash throughout your waking and sleeping hours.

“It’s called surveillance capitalism,” he added. “It’s a digital dystopia, and I shall be writing to the Competition and Markets Authority demanding they launch an investigation into this ‘investment’.” [Twitter]

And in other news...

• Manchester restaurant Twitter doing numbers for the second time in one week. After the Hawksmoor wine gaffe, a heart-warming story from Kala’s Gary Usher. [Twitter]
• “The bathos of the great leader brought low by a drink associated with children is highly effective.” How the milkshake became a symbol of protest against Britain’s far-right. [New Statesman]
• The Hampstead Kitchen will collaborate with Sambal Shiok on a celebratory banquet to commemorate the end of Ramadan and beginning of Eid al Fitr on Sunday 16 June. “Regardless of race, creed, religion, gender, and sexuality, art, music, and food is something that brings people together,” owner Saima Khan wrote. Tickets are £58.23 and can be booked here.

• A promising new Sichuan restaurant is coming to Islington’s Upper Street this week.
• Here’s a guide to some of the best restaurants in London open on Mondays.
• (Putting a Fortnum & Mason award into perspective with a) good tweet [Twitter]