Microsoft accused of threatening UK MPs with R&D closures

Vendor says it has 'nothing to share' after former government adviser makes allegations

Microsoft has been accused of attempting to blackmail MPs by threatening to close down facilities in their constituencies if government IT contracts that were not to the vendor's liking went ahead.

According to a story in the Guardian, the allegations were made by former Conservative strategy boss Steve Hilton, who worked for the party in the run-up to the 2010 election and then for two years after it came to power in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The strategist was asked how governments can best handle lobbyists and made allusions to some bruising encounters with the software giant over public sector IT deals.

"You just have to fight them off," said Hilton. "I can give you specific examples: the thing I mentioned about IT contracts. Maybe there is someone here to confirm this from Microsoft? When we proposed this, Microsoft phoned Conservative MPs with Microsoft R&D facilities in their constituencies and said, 'we will close them down in your constituency if this goes through'."

The ex-government adviser is himself now a senior IT executive, having founded Silicon Valley start-up Crowdpac, a website that aims to allow people to assess whether politicians share their beliefs on key issues. And Hilton claimed a number of fellow tech bosses have pressurised UK politicians when government policy worked against their interests.

He said: "We had the stories from the MPs saying I've just had this call from – sometimes a global CEO – phoning a Conservative MP, saying we will close down this plant. We just resisted. You have to be brave. You just have to say sorry: it's the right thing to do."

Asked about the claims made by Hilton, a Microsoft spokeswoman said the company had "nothing to share", the Guardian reports.