The TaxPayers' Alliance - Home

Wednesday October 31

Blogs

10.20am, Better Government: Threatening Schools Week - instead of making schools more accountable to politicians, make them more accountable to parents.

9.45am, Economics 101: Possible U-Turn on Capital Gains Tax - this shows how politically dangerous raising taxes is becoming.

Media Coverage

Matthew Elliott spent yesterday touring the radio and TV studios to attack the Government’s u-turn on bin taxes. After appearing to rule them out last week, it now looks like they’ll be featuring in the Queen’s Speech. 

- Even GPs say patients are getting a raw deal on out of hours care

"Matthew Elliott, of the Taxpayers' Alliance pressure group, said: 'It's a bit rich for GPs to now say that out-of-hours services are so poor when it was them who pulled out of providing it. People who pay their taxes and have seen their National Insurance contributions-rise to pay for the NHS will be disappointed to see that the money is being spent so badly.'" - Mail

  - MPs' gravy train to their second home

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "With all-night sittings, there was an argument for MPs having a taxpayer-funded London flat, but these days those within commuting distance should go home." - Express

- NHS 'juries' cost public £900,000

"Matthew Elliott, head of the Taxpayers' Alliance campaign group, said: 'This cash is going to Gordon Brown's favourite personal pollster – is it simply paying them back for all the work they've done in the past?'" - Metro

News Round-Up

Addicts kick drugs 'at a cost of £1.85m each'

"The figures suggest that the £131 million of extra funding has resulted in 70 more being drug free this year compared with three years ago — equivalent to £1.85 million a person...

"Earlier this month, it emerged that addicts were being given drugs as a reward for clean urine samples. A survey of almost 200 clinics in England found some were offering extra methadone, a heroin substitute, or anti-depressants for good behaviour." - Telegraph

£100,000 tax relief as Gordon Brown gives way

"Three weeks after Mr Darling announced his plan for a single 18 per cent rate of capital gains tax he is to soften the blow by giving £100,000 in tax relief for small businessmen who sell up and retire...

"Under the plans The Times understands that Mr Darling is to bring back a system of “retirement relief” to owners of small and medium-sized businesses who sell up and retire. There will be a sum– possibly as high as £100,000 – that would be exempt from tax on sale...

"Retirement relief, which then stood at £250,000, was abolished in 1998 when Mr Brown scrapped the standard 40 per cent rate of CGT and brought in taper relief that meant lower levels of tax farther down the line. The exempt sum will not be as high as before because the tax rate is so much lower. but the revived system will be straightforward and easy to understand, The Times has been told." - Times

Tuesday October 30

Blogs

3.00pm, West Midlands: Council join quangos to back 'Media festival' - there's plenty of funding but not much point.

1.30pm, Better Government: Threatening private schools - the last refuge of defenders of unreformed state education.

1.15pm, Economics 101: IPOD generation: government failing to learn lessons - New report from Reform argues that much of the developed world, Britain excluded, is facing up to the demographic challenge.

Media Coverage

- Jargon-buster scheme is bonkers

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers Alliance, said: "If council officials can't speak to members of the public in plain English they should not be in their jobs." - Lancashire Evening Post

News Round-Up

Bin taxes back on the agenda

"Plans to allow councils to implement “pay as you throw” rubbish schemes to encourage recycling have finally been given the go-ahead, less than a week after an announcement to proceed with the proposals was cancelled at the last minute by Downing Street." - Times

Ipod Generation crushed by tax

"The report is a severe embarrassment to the Prime Minister, who said when accepting the Labour leadership in June that his priority was to help "young people with talent and ambition wanting the best chance to realize their aspirations.

Instead Reform argues that much of government fiscal policy is doing the reverse.

It says that at a time when young people should feel motivated to innovate, the financial burden on them is soaring as a result of "near compulsory" student loans for tuition fees and pension contributions, income tax reforms which have left people on low salaries paying more, increasing national insurance contributions and rising council tax." - Telegraph

Littlejohn: 'Good morning madam, I'm your green personal transport co-ordinator'

"Environment Secretary Ruth Kelly has announced plans to offer free travel advice to encourage us to walk, cycle or take the bus and cut down on "greenhouse emissions". At a cost of "only" £10 million, 92,000 people are being counselled on how to reduce their car use by "up to" 14 per cent." - Mail

Monday October 29

Blogs

2.15pm, Burning our Money: On The Show This Morning... - Yet another welfare state disaster.

11.30am, Burning our Money: Redbox Ripoff - More than £50,000 has been spent on the famous "red boxes" used by government ministers over the past few years, according to an MP's survey.

10.00am, Better Government: More on superbugs - Interesting article gets at how the inexperience and lack of subject knowledge associated with political management is crucial to the failure to control hospital infections.

9.00am, Burning Our Money:  Weekly Waste Watch 79 - £6,687,430,000 this week.

Media Coverage

- MPs: the best and worst value revealed Our parliamentarians claim pounds 87 million in expenses. So what do we get for our money?

Matthew Elliot, chief executive of the pressure group the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "This league table blows apart the claim by MPs that they need more resources and more expenses so that they can perform better for their constituents. People should look at tables like this when they decide how to vote.'' - Sunday Telegraph 

- MPs soak up Pounds 88m

But Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers' Alliance pressure group said: "No wonder voters have little respect for politicians when they see so many MPs with their snouts in the trough." - Sunday Times

- MOTHER OF ALL SCROUNGERS

The Taxpayers' Alliance last night condemned the family. Boss Matthew Elliot said: "Taxpayers are sick and tired of doling out fistfuls of cash to people who can't be bothered to get off their backsides. The more we give some people the more they seem to want. People who can't afford to have children should take more precautions." - People 

- Imelda Marcos couldn't compete with this lot

The TaxPayers' Alliance claims the public sector wastes pounds 81bn a year. We might dispute this. One person's waste is Gordon Brown's investment. Why is it wasteful, for instance, treating asthma? Even seeming extravagances can be justified. There was probably a good reason the Arts Council spent pounds 77,000 sending artists to the North Pole to build a snowman. Ditto the 58 'media and marketing personnel' allegedly employed by Ken Livingstone. And the pounds 120,000 Experience Nottinghamshire spent redesigning its logo with a big 'N'. But suspicion grows that those apt to spend fortunes would be less adept earning fortunes. - Observer

The Sunday Mercury - £10m SPENT ON TRANSLATORS FOR POLICE

Fiona McEvoy, campaign agent for the West Midlands TaxPayers' Alliance also criticised the cost. "Spending huge amounts of public money on translators for a multitude of different languages is typical of a modern police force that lays too much emphasis on pushing diversity agendas to the detriment of much-needed frontline policing," she said. - Sunday Mercury

The TPA was also quoted in several papers on the news that the Highways Agency spends £114,000 on each new zebra crossing and was quoted in numerous national, regional and local papers reacting to the MPs' expenses figures. For full details, please see the Media Coverage blog.

News Round-Up

Stealth tax traps five million drivers

"Millions of people who use their cars for work are being hit by a Government stealth tax on mileage claims.  The cost of driving has soared but the Treasury has refused to raise the threshold at which employees using their own car have to pay tax." - Telegraph

Friday October 26

Blogs

For yesterday's TaxPayers' Alliance response to MPs' expenses claims see here and here.

3.30pm, 2012 Watchdog: Ken Blows Gaffe On 2012 Budget - he and our idiotic "government" committed taxpayers to a multi-billion and open-ended bill on the basis of nothing more substantial than a guess.

11.50am, Campaign:  Quackers regulations - Oakley and Deane Parish Council have decided that feeding the ducks “puts a strain on the entire eco-system”.

11.20am, Economics 101:  Jeremy Leggett on Renewable Power - a very weak case for big subsidies to renewable power.

11.00am, Burning Our Money: New Deal No Deal For Taxpayers - the New Deal is costly and ineffective, and has spawned yet another gigantic bureaucracy.

10.40am, Better Government:  Truancy rises again - political management of the education system is to blame.

10.20am, Campaign:  London area social.

Media Coverage

- MPs run up £87million in expenses

But pressure group TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'Families struggle to pay higher tax bills whilst MPs spend more and more of our money on themselves each year.' - Metro

- FURY AT MPS’ £88M CLAIM FOR EXPENSES

Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: “Families are struggling to pay higher tax bills while MPs are spending more and more of our money on themselves each year. What is worse is that they won’t even give us a full itemised breakdown of their expenses, as members of the Scottish Parliament do. No wonder voters have little respect for politicians when they see so many MPs with their snouts in the trough.” - Express

- MPs claim £88m expenses on top of the £60,675 each gets in salary

But Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of the pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance, said MPs should be "ashamed of themselves". He added: "Families are struggling to pay higher tax bills while MPs are spending more and more of our money on themselves." - Independent

- MPs get £87.6m in perks

Matthew Elliott of the TaxPayers’ Alliance slammed the claims. He said: “Families are struggling to pay higher tax bills whilst MPs spend more of our money on themselves.” - Sun

- Australian tax cut plan is the model Britain should follow

Corin Taylor: "Spearheading the revolt against the 80% increase in the capital gains tax rate for longer-term business assets are none other than the panellists from BBC2’s highly popular Dragon’s Den. The ferocity and breadth of the general response to the changes has taken the government completely by surprise. But despite this welcome shift in opinion, there is still a mountain to climb to achieve genuinely lower taxes in Britain." - Business

- MPs' EXPENSES = £87M

But Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said MPs should be shamed, adding: "Families struggle to pay higher tax bills while MPs spend more of our money on themselves. No wonder voters have little respect for politicians when they see so many MPs with their snouts in the trough." - Mirror

- MP's expenses revealed

Matthew Elliott of pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance said MPs should be "ashamed of themselves". - Daily Echo

Daily Post (North Wales) - Plaid MPs 'biggest spenders' in N.Wales

Last night the TaxPayers' Alliance branded the party the worst value for money in the UK. The campaign group ranked the main parties by the average amount claimed per MP in expenses, excluding travel expenses because of the different geographical spread of each group. The Conservatives were lowest at £123,370, with Plaid highest at £132,144.   

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TPA, said: "Conservative MPs should be proud that their average expenses are lower than the other political parties. Plaid Cymru MPs should go to the back of the class." - Daily Post

- THE GREAT COMMONS GRAVY TRAIN

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance, said MPs should be ashamed of themselves. 'Families are struggling to pay higher tax bills while MPs are spending more and more of our money on themselves,' he said. 'What's worse is that they won't even give us a full itemised breakdown of their expenses as MSPs do in Scotland. No wonder voters have little respect for politicians when they see so many MPs with their snouts in the trough.' - Mail

- Record claim prompts plea for greater transparency

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance, said MPs should be ashamed of themselves. "Families are struggling to pay higher tax bills whilst MPs are spending more and more of our money on themselves each year," he said. - Guardian

- MPs expenses: latest figures

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance, said MPs should be "ashamed of themselves".  "Families are struggling to pay higher tax bills whilst MPs are spending more and more of our money on themselves each year," he said. "What's worse is that they won't even give us a full itemised breakdown of their expenses as MSPs do in Scotland. No wonder voters have little respect for politicians when they see so many MPs with their snouts in the trough." - Worcester News

- MP'S EXPENSES TOTAL £88 MILLION

However, Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers' Alliance criticised the rise in expenses. 'With the tax burden rising, MPs should be looking at any possible way to cut back on expenses to give better value for money,' he said. - Evening Standard

News Round-Up

'Spendthrift' public spending watchdog to retire

"The public spending watchdog faces an overhaul to its own system of financial controls after its most senior official stepped down yesterday after criticism of his lavish expenses." - Times

Balls and Cooper claim £300,000 in expenses

"The Cabinet's golden couple claimed more than £300,000 in expenses in the last financial year, including £30,000 for the cost of their "second home", official figures have revealed." - Telegraph

How to save the world

"The report will undoubtedly be used by environmentalists to justify all manner of government interference in our lives. The thing they're missing, however, is that property rights and a properly functioning free market would solve almost all of the problems the UN report details. The exhaustion of fish stocks, for instance, is a classic tragedy of the commons situation. In Norway, where fishing policies are based on private property rights, fish stocks are thriving." - Adam Smith Institute Blog

Thursday October 25

Blogs

6.30pm, Burning Our Money:  MPs' EXPENSES:  Tories best value for money, Plaid Cymru worst - TPA research reveals which of the major parties offer the best value.

6.30pm, Burning Our Money:  MPs record expenses "extortionate", says TaxPayers' Alliance

Responding to the publication of MPs’ expense claims for 2006-07 (PDF), the TaxPayers' Alliance described the rises as “extortionate”. TPA Chief Executive Matthew Elliott said:

“MPs should be ashamed of themselves. Families are struggling to pay higher tax bills whilst MPs are spending more and more of our money on themselves each year. What’s worse is that they won’t even give us a full itemised breakdown of their expenses as MSPs do in Scotland. No wonder voters have little respect for politicians when they see so many MPs with their snouts in the trough.”

4.50pm, Campaign: £34K for a 'Young Mayor Coordinator' - an activist alerted us to this non-job.

3.50pm, West Midlands: Coventry City Council advertises for 'Lifestyle Coach' - paid up to £27,492 per year.

11.10am, Campaign: Keep off the grass... even if you're cutting it - Broxbourne Council discourage voluntary activity that benefits the local community.

11.00am, Better Governnment: Both workers in the Health Service and people in deprived areas would be better off with real NHS reform

10.15am, Better Government: MPs and their skills - apparently MPs don't have the skills and experience to fill senior management roles in the private sector, no wonder they do such a bad job running the public services.

10.10am, Campaign: The Government's £57,000 boxes - red boxes for ministers are costing taxpayers a surprising amount of money - even if they don't contain a tax-raising budget.

10.00am, Economics 101: Unfunded public sector pension liabilities rise again - Official estimate of public sector pension liabilities rises again; two suggestions to deal with the problem.

Media Coverage

- WE'RE HAPPY WITH OUR PAY, SAY GPS (WHAT A SURPRISE!)

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'On the one hand this poll is unsurprising because the Government has just awarded GPs a massive pay hike without asking them to take on any additional responsibilities such as out-of-hours surgeries. On the other hand, the fact that so many are dissatisfied with their pay will be very worrying to taxpayers. GPs are already receiving very good pay and taxpayers can't afford to give them any more.' - Mail 

Asian News International - Two UK prisons for foreigners only cost exchequer 15 million pounds

But Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "The public has a right to know why one of these prisons costs almost double per inmate than the average jail and if there are plans to build any more of these specialist institutions." - Asian News International

- NHS pensions black hole will cost £8,700 for each household

Corin Taylor, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "The Government has disgracefully mishandled public-sector pensions and the taxpayer will have to pick up the bill. This is unfair on people in the private sector, many of whom are expected to work to at least the age of 69 while seeing their pensions collapse." - Express

- Anger at payout to top aide

Corin Taylor, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said it was "grotesque'' when ordinary people faced reduced pension payouts and a higher retirement age. "People in the public sector have seen their salaries sky-rocket and still get the pension benefits, " he added. - Express 

News Round-Up

Tim Worstall: Soil Association Protectionism

"Oh, how lovely. The Soil Association once again acts as the trade union for British organic farmers. It does so by insisting that farmers in other countries face higher costs:

[...]

Clever scheme, eh? My how they must be hugging themselves with glee over at the Soil Association! A wealthy peer, owner outright of hundreds of acres of prime British farmland,  worth millions, gets protected from some runty peasant trying to scrape a living. And he’ll be praised for it!" - Tim Worstall

Bins charges decision 'delayed'

A decision on introducing controversial "pay as you throw" charges for rubbish has been delayed, the BBC understands. Defra was expected to announce as early as Thursday it would go ahead with bin charges - a document outlining the plans has been seen by the BBC...

The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg said sources had suggested Downing Street had "put a stop" to the idea. She said Defra had been all set to go ahead with the announcement and had prepared the text, but it appeared there was a split between opinion in Defra and Downing Street. Our correspondent added that a source close to Gordon Brown had said "he may dump the whole idea". - BBC

Iain Martin: MPs are living too high on the hog as it is      

For every careerist egomaniac or laid-back lay-about who does nothing but hoover up expenses, there is a hard-working, unflashy MP, or even minister, trying to do what he thinks right. The problem for MPs is that, if there is anything left of the case for their defence, many voters are so jaded with Westminster that they do not want to hear it. Being blind to this, they do nothing to help themselves...

Our political class is stealthily nationalising our political system, wanting to make the taxpayer fund the activities of their parties. In sum, they demand we pay the bill, but at the same time want to be left alone. At the root of it is the wrong-headed statist assumption that parties are creatures of the state, rather than free institutions. Rather than be subsidised any more than they are, they should prosper or fail depending on their ability to generate ideas that can attract donations, large and small, from British individuals — just as charities and voluntary organisations do...

Cameron should pledge that he will not accept a penny of whatever extra state funding Labour creates before the election, and shout it from the roof tops. It might create difficulties for his election campaign, but not so many as he might think. The public would quickly come to grasp that one party was refusing to take more of their money with menaces, and was relying on its own efforts. - Telegraph

Wednesday October 24

Blogs

4.40pm, Campaign: Who would spend £100k on desks? - Renfrewshire council is spending £100,000 of your money on new “bespoke panel-ended furniture and arched desking”.

12.40pm, Economics 101: More corporate tax cuts in prospect in Canada - The Canadian Liberals are proposing to reduce the federal corporation tax rate by more than the incumbent Conservatives.

12.15pm, Economics 101: Britain's economic prosperity built on a mountain of debt - While Britain's fiscal position gets worse, Romania prepares for the future by gradually replacing its state pension scheme with a system of private accounts.

11.00am, Burning our Money: Non-job of the week - This week, Nottingham City Council is advertising for ten positions in its welfare rights department.

10.15am, Economics 101: Tax burden higher than in 1975 - The UK's tax burden today is higher than under the days of Old Labour socialism.

10.05am, Campaign: Half-day for Council workers to go 'Christmas Shopping' - Leicestershire County Council will allow its staff to take an afternoon off just to go Christmas shopping.

Media Coverage

- Simon Heffer: Have the Tories got the bottle to win the next general election?

"A full audit of the activities of the state is necessary, at the end of which a computation can be made of how much of the public's money is being gratuitously and pointlessly wasted. The Taxpayers' Alliance has recently done these sums, and came out with the figure of pounds 101 billion. I am amazed it was so little." - Telegraph

- AT £15M A YEAR, THE JAILS HOLDING ONLY FOREIGNERS

"But Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'The public has a right to know why one of these prisons costs almost double per inmate than the average jail and if there are plans to build any more of these specialist institutions.' " - Mail

- UK staff must learn English

"But Matthew Elliott, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said it was a waste of money. He added: "Surely they should have learnt plain English at school?" " - Sun 

- Council runs lessons in how to cut the claptrap

"Matthew Elliott, spokesman for the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "This is a waste of taxpayers' money. If council officials can't communicate with members of the public, they shouldn't be employed in the first place." " -  Express

News Round-Up

Peter Riddell: Parties must play the long game now the deadline has shifted

"In addition, the Tories will be producing a further instalment of their tax plans, particularly on how to increase taxes on pollution while reducing them on families. Mr Cameron stressed that the changes would be one-for-one out of a notional family fund. This is easier to state as an aspiration than to announce in detail since polls show that voters are highly sceptical about the reality of such transfers. They believe that any increases in green taxes will not be fully offset by cuts in direct taxes. And, anyway, there can never be a neat match, while losers always complain more than winners." - Times

EU to spend £1.3 million flying flag over embassy in London

"EU chiefs are preparing to throw £1.3m a year down the drain just so they can fly the EU flag above a new "super-embassy" in Britain.

...

"A building in Victoria Street in Westminster - ironically the Conservative Party's former campaign HQ - has been chosen as the preferred option, according to Brussels sources.

"But because EU chiefs insist on flying the gold-starred EU emblem from the front of the building, they will have to rent the entire site - even though they need only 60 per cent of the floor space. A previous effort to rent an office block on Tothill Street, also in central London, apparently failed because the landlord would not allow the EU flag to be flown from the building. The new site, which has 50,000 square feet, will cost taxpayers £3.2 million a year in rent." - Mail

Equality superquango to cost taxpayer £22 million

"Labour's new human rights 'superquango' will cost taxpayers £22million more to run than the three bodies it replaced. The Equality and Human Rights Commission took over from the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality on October 1.

"Official figures have revealed that the 'streamlined' body will cost taxpayers £70million a year - compared with a total of £48million for its three predecessors." - Mail

Tuesday October 23

Blogs

9.55am, Better Government: More secrecy and failure in the NHS - A third of NHS Trusts face financial difficulties despite record NHS spending, while Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust refuses to reveal payoff to disgraced chief executive Rose Gibb.

Media Coverage

- Scots to give pupils free dental checks

"Matthew Elliott, from the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "It's unfair that a child attending a primary school in Gretna will be visited by a dentist and enjoy free school meals, when a child living a few miles south of the border in Carlisle will be denied these benefits, even though the parents pay the same tax rates. The public services apartheid must stop or the Union will dissolve.'' " - Telegraph

- 'Bad news' Whitehall chief to get £2.7m pension

"Corin Taylor, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, added: "It's not surprising that public-sector pension liabilities are so high when senior civil servants receive such enormous sums." " - Telegraph

- £70m on tax for Scots freebie prescriptions

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group said: "Scotland has a choice either it pays its own way through proper fiscal independence or it should abide by the same rules as the rest of us." " - Express

- ALL PUPILS AGED FOUR TO SEVEN WILL GET FREE DINNERS IN SCOTLAND

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'If the Scottish Executive wishes to pay for free school meals in primary schools, they should use their tax-varying powers to add a penny on income tax in Scotland to cover the cost.

'The Barnett Formula started off as a bribe to keep Scotland in the Union. 'Now they have devolution. . . they should have a Scottish rate of tax to cover the full cost of their expensive spending programmes, instead of expecting English taxpayers to pick up the bill.' " - Mail

News Round-Up

Mandatory "physical jerks" to tackle obesity?

"Smokers could be required to buy an annual “permit” in order to continue to buy tobacco, and manufacturers could be banned from adding salt and other unhealthy substances to food, a former adviser to Tony Blair said on Monday.

"Larger employers could also be required to offer employees exercise facilities and a daily “exercise hour” – all to help tackle obesity and heart disease, said Julian Le Grand, former health adviser to Downing Street and now chairman of advisory body Health England." - Financial Times

Workers switching jobs before retirement face 25 per cent pensions cut - but what about the public sector?

"Millions of workers who switch jobs before retirement age could have their pensions cut by as much as 25 per cent by the time they turn 65 if inflation stays at the present rate, under a government measure announced unexpectedly yesterday.

"Such workers have had their final salary pensions adjusted for inflation up to a cap of 5 per cent annually for 20 years, but Mike O'Brien, minister for pensions reform, has decided to cut this to 2.5 per cent, well below the 3.9 per cent inflation rate.

"According to Standard Life, one of the UK's biggest pension providers, this means workers in their mid-40s who switched companies while inflation stayed at 4 per cent would lose 25 per cent of expected benefits by the time they turned 65.

"The move, which the CBI employer group welcomed as a sensible first step, could save employers £250m-£400m a year, according to the Department for Work and Pensions, or about 1 per cent of the total paid by pension schemes each year.

"However, savings could be much higher if inflation exceeded the government's long-run forecast of 2.9 per cent." - Financial Times

Monday October 22

Blogs

2.35pm, West Midlands: Golden handshake for incompetant finance director - The former finance director of North Stoke Primary Care Trust who was suspended on full pay for 18 months has now been awarded a £30k golden handshake.

11.42am, Burning our Money: Government regional shambles - Incompetence at government regional offices represents yet another shambles bequeathed to taxpayers by John Prescott.

9.25am, Burning our Money: Weekly Waste Watch - 78 - £149 million wasted by politicians this week.

Media Coverage

- News round-up

TPA comment on move to introduce free prescriptions in Scotland mentioned in the 7.40am round-up. - Today

 

- MPs' holiday may be raised to 90 days

"The extra holidays, which are proposed by Miss Harman but must be formally approved by Parliament, were last night criticised by Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance.

"Many people are having to work longer hours or take second jobs just to maintain their standard of living," he said. "A three-month holiday for MPs is a ridiculous luxury, especially since the politicians have also been awarding themselves larger pensions and higher pay." " - Telegraph

- English pay the price as Scots axe prescription charges

"Matthew Elliott, from the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "This is another example of the unfairness caused by the Barnett formula.    "Taxpayers across England are getting sick of the fact that they are paying for free university education, free care for the elderly and now free prescriptions for Scots. Either Scotland should be made to raise the money it spends or these measures should be rolled out nationwide.'' " - Telegraph

- Health apartheid

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group, said: 'Scotland has a choice: either it pays its own way through proper fiscal independence or it should abide by the same rules as the rest of us.' " - Mail

- Millions wasted on worst schools

"Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "If ministers stopped micromanaging and stuck to setting high-level policy, public services would greatly improve and taxpayers would be better off." " - Sunday Times

News Round-Up

Tax on public gyms 'will hit people most in need of help'

"Efforts to tackle the growing obesity problem risk being seriously undermined by a move to claim VAT on public gym memberships held by nearly three million people.

"While private gyms have to charge VAT on membership at 17.5 per cent, gyms run by leisure centres have enjoyed a partial exemption, allowing them to keep costs down.

"In addition, most of the not-for-profit trusts that run hundreds of leisure centre gyms on behalf of local authorities have not been charging VAT at all.

...

"Experts say that the move will undermine Gordon Brown’s attempts to bring obesity under control, with higher fees likely to push thousands of members — and those most at risk of obesity — into giving up going to the gym altogether." - Times

UK says 4,000 non-doms face fee

"Non-doms will in future have to pay either a £30,000 fee or be taxed on their overseas earnings and capital gains under new residence and domicile rules that will raise an estimated £800m in 2009-10. Mr Darling’s decision to restrict this charge to non-doms who have been living in the UK for at least seven of the past 10 years means it will affect only about 20,000 people, Mark Neale, the managing director of tax at the Treasury, told a Commons select committee. Of those, he said, about 4,000 would have sufficient unremitted foreign income to make it worth their while paying the charge.

...

"Tax experts told the FT that neither party could be confident of how much money their plans would raise. “The government’s estimates are to some extent plucking a number out of thin air,” said Stuart Adam, senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. “On the other hand, there’s no reason to believe the Tory estimates are any more reliable.” " - Financial Times

Friday October 19

Blogs

10.50am, Campaign: Slough-t of their minds - Barmy council bans bonfire celebrations.

11.30am, Better Government: Fewer than half of pupils gain good GCSEs in core subjects - The state education system, managed by politicians, is failing.

12.00pm, Economics 101: Capital gains tax: an alternative view - Would it be better to scrap corporation tax and tax capital gains in the same way as income, as suggested by Martin Wolf? Thoughts please.

12.15pm, CRAP: a guide to politics by Terry Arthur: MISLEADING CRAP - BIAS AT THE BEEB - Terry Arthur's thoughts on the BBC job cuts.

3.55pm, Burning our Money: More tax funded compensation - Army helicopter antics which damaged a conservatory could leave taxpayers with yet another bill.

Media Coverage

-  Councils pay mileage rates above recommendations

"Almost all West Midlands councils are paying their staff and councillors car mileage rates far in excess of the maximum level recommended by the Inland Revenue. A survey by the TaxPayers' Alliance found the average payment by the region's local authorities for casual users was 52.4p per mile for the first 8,500 miles, although 23 councils pay as much as 55.8p." - Birmingham Post

- MPS GIVE THEMSELVES YET MORE HOLIDAY

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'If MPs spent longer in the House there'd be less badly drafted legislation.' " - Daily Mail 

- MPS GIVEN AN EXTRA THREE WEEKS' BREAK

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance said: 'If MPs spent longer in the House there'd be less badly drafted legislation.' " - Evening Standard

- MPs have run out of work to do... so it's time for an extra holiday

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "If MPs spent longer in the House there'd be less badly drafted legislation." " - Scotsman

- Now MPs to get 18 weeks off

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "A three-month holiday for MPs is a ridiculous luxury, especially since the politicians have also been awarding themselves larger pensions and higher pay." " - Express

- MSPs may vote to raise their pensions Consultation suggests more money for shorter service

"Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "Against this backdrop, it's astounding that MSPs are opting for a more lavish gold-plated scheme that is funded by even more of our money. The Scottish Parliament makes Goldman Sachs look like a poorhouse." " - Herald

News Round-Up

Drug offences rise 14pc after policy 'shambles'

"The "shambolic and failed" drugs policy of the Government has been attacked after figures showed that drug offences rose by 14 per cent in the three months to June this year.

"Overall, drug offences recorded by police increased by 14 per cent in April to June 2007 on the same period last year, rising from 48,300 offences to 55,000, figures released yesterday showed." - Daily Telegraph

Government reneges on 10-year CGT promise

"A former head of the British Venture Capital Association has said that the Government had assured him that the 10pc rate of capital gains would not be a temporary measure." - Daily Telegraph

Budget tax changes will cost low-earners £200

"Low earners will lose up to £200 a year as a result of Gordon Brown's changes to the tax system, it emerged last night.

"Treasury figures also revealed that couples with children will be no better off than single mothers as a result of action the Prime Minister took in his final weeks as Chancellor." - Daily Mail

 

Thursday October 18

Blogs

10.55am, Better Government: State schools are failing the poor - Only half of secondary schools are providing a decent education, and they are not generally in the poorest areas.

12.05pm, Better Government: Quarter of hospital trusts fail to meet basic hygiene standards - The NHS, run by politicians, is failing to provide a decent service.

12.40pm, Economics 101: Taxes highest for 20 years - and this is being felt across the country - Businesses are considering leaving Britain because it has become so uncompetitive

4.20pm, Burning Our Money: Non-job of the week - A "welfare rights team manager" for Sandwell council.

5.40pm, West Midlands: Flat broke Solihull MBC closes public toilets and hires more bureaucrats - More bizzare spending priorities from local authorities.

6.05pm, Campaign: Launch of the Derby TPA branch - The Derby TaxPayers’ Alliance branch launched yesterday with a meeting of prominent tax activists in Derby.

Media Coverage

- Brown raised taxes to highest level in 20 years

"Experts warned that the high tax burden would damage the economy. Corin Taylor, the research director at The TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "A decade ago this country had among the lowest taxes in the OECD, now we have some of the highest. Faced with the growing challenge of China and India, this is completely the wrong direction to go.'' " - Telegraph

- Olympic consultants cost taxpayers £1m a week

"Matthew Elliott, a spokesman for the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'The 2012 Olympics are set to become the most expensive games in history. Once consultants are brought in, costs rocket.' " - Mail

- Britons paying highest taxes for 22 years

" 'Faced with the growing challenge of China and India, this is completely the wrong way to go,' Mr Taylor said." - Mail 

- Norwich City Council is splashing out more than £1,000 per week to pay for taxis

"However, Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said the rise do not represent good value for money. He said: “When councillors and council officials take expensive taxis instead of user cheaper and greener solutions such as public transport or walking, they are not giving taxpayers good value for money. With council tax bills having doubled over the past ten years, councils should be looking for every opportunity possibly to cut spending. Taxi rides should be the first item to be axed.” " - Norwich Evening News

News Round-Up

One in four hospital trusts fails to meet basic hygiene standards

"The performance of health service organisations appears to be improving overall but the medical postcode lottery continues to create regional variations in the quality of services, the Healthcare Commission says.

"Large expanses of the South East and West of England, in particular, have services rated as “weak” in an important new report.

"The watchdog’s Annual Health Check, published today, also reports that one in four trusts across the country is still failing to meet basic standards of hygiene and infection control." - Times

Schools fail poor

"HALF of comprehensives are failing to provide a decent education to pupils, a damning Ofsted report said yesterday.

"And most of these schools are in deprived areas – making poor pupils EIGHT times more likely to fail than children from middle-class families.

"Chief schools inspector Christine Gilbert’s annual report found one in ten secondary schools was “inadequate” and four in ten barely “satisfactory”." - Sun

Wednesday October 17

Blogs

1.30pm, Better Government: More evidence that the scandal at Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells wasn't an isolated incident - The Government's attempts to convince us that the scandal at Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells was an isolated incident and that their health policy is on track fall short.

5.30pm, The Wilted Rose: A survey of the tax debate in the aftermath of the Conservative Party conference and the Pre-Budget Report.

Media Coverage

- Thousands more caught in stamp duty net

"Corin Taylor, the head of research at the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "It's a tax on aspiration.'' "  - Telegraph

- BBC faces strike over thousands of job cuts

"Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "With BBC chiefs proposing cuts to their current affairs teams, it seems bizarre that they can find the resources to build websites that nobody uses.'' " - Telegraph

- The immigrant bill

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'This report clearly shows that immigration is having a massive impact on public services at a local level. Ministers are finally admitting that, in certain areas, immigration is causing higher crime, poorer educational provision and overstretched healthcare.' " - Mail

- The migration report Labour wanted to hide

"And Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “The Government has finally admitted that immigration is having massive problems at a local level across the UK. For a long time ministers had their heads in the sand. Now they are finally waking up to the fact it is causing big problems to local areas.

“Every taxpayer should be concerned because all of these have spending implications which lead to higher taxes. The Government is now clearly worried about immigration and the way it has put out this report is an example of its cynical manipulation of the media. Britain needs a proper debate on the subject. If all the facts are in the open and the Government stops its spinning we may be about to have a proper discussion on the issue.” " - Express

News Round-Up

A new hospital infections scandal

"She and her partner Wayne Jenkinson both caught MRSA from their son and Miss Hodgkiss had to be hospitalised after her condition worsened. The couple have made a formal complaint against the Royal Blackburn Hospital in Lancashire and may take legal action.

The revelation comes just days after it emerged 90 patients had died after an outbreak of clostridium difficile in hospital run by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Hospitals Trust." - Mail

Norman Lamont: Looser EU ties can only help British economy

"Consider Switzerland, which has had a free trade agreement for industrial goods with the EU since 1972, though it remains outside the EU.

A recent exhaustive study on Switzerland and the EU concluded that "...not being a member of the EU does not seem to have led to a significantly smaller degree of economic integration of Switzerland relative to that of EU members".

Switzerland has not been cold-shouldered by the EU as a trading partner. It has not been isolated. Indeed, it is more integrated with the EU economy than any of the major EU economies and, perhaps more surprisingly, Denmark." - Telegraph

Tuesday October 16

Blogs

5.35pm, West Midlands:  Democracy suffers at regional level - Advantage West Midlands are setting themselves up as an unelected mini-government.

4.30pm, Economics 101:  Higher taxes reduce labour supply - cut income tax rates; increase labour supply, grow the economy and get back a large part of the lost revenue.

4.15pm, Better Government: Chairman of the Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust quits - he has some sensible things to say but is far too keen to pass the buck.

10.30am, Economics 101: Australia cuts taxes - again - $34 billion of cuts by 2010.

9.30am, Campaign:  Are the terms of debate changing? - there are hopeful signs that the debate on tax and spend is really shifting in the right direction.

Media Coverage

- Junkies offered rounds of golf to get off drugs... and you pay

"TaxPayers Alliance spokesman Matthew Elliott said: “Rewarding drug users for their habit by giving them free golfing is an insult to decent taxpayers. If they scrapped this mad scheme and the other government schemes that reward bad behaviour, taxpayers would get to take home a bigger chunk of their hard-earned money.” - Express

- TV channel 'cash wasted'

"AN INTERNET television channel launched by Advantage West Midlands has cost the region's taxpayers £3.6 million.   

The information was uncovered after a Freedom of Information request by the West Midlands Tax Payers Alliance, which campaigns for public accountability." - Mail

- AWM defends BizTV funding

"Ms McEvoy said: "I am still concerned AWM is spending this amount on a website that, in my opinion, is seeing a low amount of hits. This is an organisation that has invested heavily in a network many people in the region seem to be completely unaware of.

"Surely there are more practicable ways taxpayer money can be spent to support businesses."

According to the information obtained by the TPA, BizTV attracts 850 unique users a month." - Birmingham Post

News Round-Up

Sun Says:  Clean up the NHS

Times:  Plans to reform Capital Gains Tax are a mess

"Alistair Darling’s reform of capital gains tax has been described as “clueless” and “disastrous,” and those are the more flattering interpretations. The Chancellor’s actions certainly leave small business entrepreneurs bearing the brunt of the cost of changes that were supposedly aimed at increasing the tax paid by private equity partners. The malign episode also suggests that the Government fundamentally misunderstands the value of entrepreneurs, the role of business in society and the proper way to develop tax policy." - Times

Sun: Fury at Capital Gains Tax changes

"FOR the past decade, first as Chancellor and then as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has bragged about his friendliness to business.  However, after Chancellor Alistair Darling’s preBudget report last week, that claim is under serious threat.  Mr Darling is abolishing something called “taper relief” on Capital Gains Tax (CGT) – and the losers will be small firms and workers in Save As You Earn share schemes." - Sun

Monday October 15

Blogs

4.45pm, Burning Our Money:  Front Line Desk Jockeys - the Gershon efficiency savings are an exercise in rearranging deckchairs that we're all paying for.

11.45am, Better Government: MoD homes 'scandal' not being fixed - members of the Armed Forces are going to have to wait 46 years for decent housing.

11.35am, Better Government: Twenty hospitals have worse infection rates than Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells Hospital Trust - it wasn't an "isolated incident" at all.

The worst hospital in the country for C. Difficile infections

11.25am, Better Government: Oxbridge giving up on the A-level - new tests are being used to replace a system better at giving politicians 'good news' than differentiating between students.

11.15am, Better Government: Patients pulling their own teeth due to shortage of NHS dentists - the NHS has had plenty of money, it takes failures of management to create this sort of basic shortage.

10.30am, Campaign: Welcome U-turn on national road pricing scheme - we will need to watch local authorities carefully to be sure they don't try to introduce new, expensive schemes.

10.00am, Economics 101: Capital gains tax increase attacked by business groups - meaningful tax simplication should be accompanied by a cut in the overall burden of tax.

9.50am, Campaign: Hampshire County councillors shirking responsibilities - proper scrutiny of new Chief Executive, accused of misconduct, not carried out.

9.00am, Burning Our Money:  Weekly Waste Watch 77 - £1 billion of waste this week.

Media Coverage

- Exposed: How Alistair Darling (and Tony Benn) exploited death tax loophole

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'The double standards of these ministers is breathtaking.'" - Mail

- Job security vanishes for council staff

"At the time, Tony Blair was paid Pounds 186,429, prompting Corin Taylor of the Taxpayers' Alliance to say: "Council taxpayers are entitled to ask why someone should be better rewarded for running services in Kent or Wandsworth than running a country." - Sunday Times

- Are you in for the long haul?

"COUNCIL TAX: Could rise by £375 over the next five years, on average, for a 'band D' home. This is according to forecasts by the TaxPayers' Alliance. Hazel Blears, communities and local Government secretary, says council tax increases are likely to be no more than five per cent this year." - Mail

News Round-Up

Poor patients pull out teeth due to lack of dentists

"People with toothache are resorting to pulling their own teeth because they cannot find a NHS dentist, a study out today says." - Telegraph

Labour to scrap national road pricing plans

"Ministers are to perform a U-turn by shelving plans for a national road pricing scheme that would have cost motorists up to £1.30 a mile." - Telegraph

Some U-Turns are good, Gordon Brown

"There is no dishonour in a politician listening to his constituents. On the contrary, the readiness of those in power to do what the rest of us want is the basis of representative government. So we applaud Gordon Brown's welcome decision to ditch a national road pricing scheme: a move for which this newspaper has campaigned these past 12 months." - Telegraph

Friday October 12

Blogs

7.15pm, Better Government: Management in the Health Service and hospital infections - inexperienced and incompetent management makes a powerful contribution to the failure to keep hospitals clean.

4pm, West Midlands: Money mismanagement and dangerous cutbacks for West Midlands Fire Service.

11.40am, Better Government:  Hospital infections at Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust - the scandal shouldn't be understood as an isolated case but as part of a broader problem in the structure of the health service.

10.00am, Campaign: Yet another council votes against cutting council tax - Tivetshall Parish Council don't want to make a stand for taxpayers.

9.40am, Economics 101: Australian unemployment falls to 33-year low - its low burden of public spending and welfare reforms have played a key part in that success.

Media Coverage

- Council working to keep down council tax rises

"The Taxpayers' Alliance has predicted huge hikes next year after the Government dealt "the worst settlement to local government in a decade".   

Matthew Sinclair, policy analyst at the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "These new rises will mean more pain for council tax payers, particularly retired people who are the ones that suffer most from this unfair tax.

"With no clear accountability for council tax rises it is too easy for Government to blame councils and councils to blame Government when big new bills land on people's doormats.

"Taxpayers need a cut in council tax, not inflation-busting increases." - Sunderland Echo

- Council tax bills 'to rise by £370'

"COUNCIL tax will rise by £370 over the next five years for householders paying the average band D bill, the Taxpayers' Alliance predicted today.   

The organisation, which campaigns for lower taxes, said the average band D bill would increase from £1,321 in 2007/8 to £1,691in 2013." - Birmingham Mail

- Council tax rise warning

"COUNCIL tax will rise by £370 over the next five years for householders paying the average band D bill, the Taxpayers' Alliance predicted today.   

The organisation said the average band D bill would increase from £1,321 in 2007/8 to £1,691 in 2013. Its figures were based on projections in the Pre-Budget Report." - Evening Gazette

- A £21,516 bill for lawyers to speak up for former speaker

"The TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group accused him of adopting 'the airs and graces of the ancien regime'.  Chief executive Matthew Elliott said: 'By using our money to defend himself against his critics and to soothe his thin skin, he is showing contempt to taxpayers.

'If he wants to hire flunkies, he should pay for them himself and not expect us to pick up the tab.  He should not forget how far £21,000 could go to help taxpayers in his home town of Glasgow.'" - Mail

Elderly services facing cuts

"The Taxpayers' Alliance said ministers were forecasting 5 per cent council tax rises each year until 2013 - nearly three times current inflation.   

This would mean that by 2013 an average family's bill in England would have gone up by 129 per cent since 1998, from £614 through £1,101 now to £1,409." - Mail

- Speaker's £20k bill to fight press

"It was revealed the bill came to £21,516. The TaxPayers' Alliance accused the Speaker of treating the public with contempt." - Birmingham Post

- Taxpayers foot £21,000 bill for Speaker's lawyers

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said he was appalled by the use of public money.   

He said: "The Speaker may live in a former royal palace, but he shouldn't adopt the airs and graces of the ancien régime. By using our money to hire the best media law firm in the land to defend himself against his critics and to soothe his thin skin, he is showing contempt towards taxpayers.''

He said that Mr Martin should pay for such services himself, and not expect the bill to be covered by taxpayers, adding: "He should not forget how far $21,000 could go to help taxpayers in his home town of Glasgow.'' - Telegraph

- Macer Hall: How our council tax is poured down the drain as services get worse

"Research by the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign showed a rise of a third in just a year in the number of local council employees earning more than £100,000 annually. Brown may claim to have rid the economy of boom and bust but in the public sector, the past 10 years have been boom all the way." - Express

Letter: Cut government waste to ease our tax burden

"TWO adjacent items caught my eye – the £10billion shortfall in Gordon Brown's accounts and the Government's £100billion-a-year waste revealed by the Taxpayers' Alliance (Scottish Daily Express, October 1).   

Do I have an oversimplified approach to fiscal matters when I conclude that elimination of even some of this waste would do away with any need for tax increases to make up for the shortfall?" - Express

Ingham's World

"JOBSWORTHS were in denial this week. Our political masters revealed flytipping is getting worse – up five per cent in England to 2.6 million incidents last year and most of it was household waste.

Where councils have switched to fortnightly bin collections, the increase was at least double that in areas where councils collect weekly, says the Taxpayers' Alliance.   

Yet Defra and the Local Government Association say there's no link between flytipping and fortnightly services. Why use common sense when you have a ridiculous policy to defend?" - Express

News Round-Up

Were the Saudis behind the police investigation into a Channel 4 Dispatches programme

"Mr Goodman said the letter raised questions over the Saudi involvement in the affair. "This story becomes more and more intriguing," he said. ''David Miliband's letter confirms that the Foreign Office suggested to the Saudis that they might make a referral. A key question now is: did they?" - Telegraph

Trying to stop big pay-out to NHS trust chief responsible for endemic hospital infections in Maidstone and Tunbridge & Wells

"Yet Miss Gibb was allowed to leave her £150,000 post by "mutual agreement" last Friday, meaning she was eligible for £250,000 in severance pay until Mr Johnson ordered the trust to block the payment.  However, it was unclear last night whether Mr Johnson, who described the trust's failings as "a scandal", had any legal power to prevent the payment, and it is thought Miss Gibb will also be allowed to keep her £507,000 pension pot." - Telegraph

Doug Richards: Gordon Brown and Darling want to tax dreams

"There are a few thousand people at the very most who fall within the ambit of the private equity question in Britain; but the impact of removing taper relief will directly affect hundreds of thousands of people." - Telegraph

Crime assets recovery team slammed

"The Government's much-vaunted creation of an agency to seize criminals' illicit wealth has been condemned as "ill-planned" and "unrealistic" by a cross-party committee of MPs." - Guardian