The TaxPayers' Alliance - Home

Wednesday April 30

Public Sector Strikes

Download the full report (PDF)

Blogs

6.00pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
Defending the indefensible

Further to my comments on the Fabian Society's attempts to "defend inheritance tax" and launch an anti-taxpayers alliance, Nick Cowen over at Civitas has written up an account of the Fabians' debate on the topic, held last night... - Read More

4.00pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
Three reactions to the ten per cent challenge

As you might expect, the reactions of people around the country has been enthusiastic. Council tax has doubled in the last ten years, and has reached simply unsustainable levels. We've had a lot of people get in touch with us and sign up to support the TPA.

The reaction from councils has been rather more mixed... - Read More

3.30pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
Correcting The Brown Version

Taxpayers would feel much better served if Mr Brown took less of their money, and was a deal more open and straightforward about his fiscal sums... - Read More

2.00pm, Burning Our Money
Tim Aker:
Non-job of the week

On Monday we challenged councils to reduce their publicity, middle management and pensions by 10% to produce real tax cuts next year.  East Sussex Council could start by axing this job and work that bit harder to give us some of our money back... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Labour Kate joins Tory Boris

The timing of her move could not have been more wounding for Mr Brown. He faces a backlash over the 10p tax fiasco — and Labour is on course for a hammering in town hall polls.

Mr Brown was hit by fresh figures last night showing Britain is in the grip of a strike epidemic. Public sector workers are 100 times more likely to strike than those in private firms, according to a study by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. - Full story

- Sisters lose fight to have death tax parity with gays

TWO elderly sisters yesterday lost their legal battle for the same tax privileges as gay couples. Joyce and Sybil Burden, who have lived together all their lives, are angry that one of them will face an inheritance tax bill of more than £50,000 when the other dies...

Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers' Alliance said: 'This is a sad verdict for anyone who wanted to do the right thing and save for their family's future. Inheritance tax is an unjust and unfair levy that hits bereaved families when they are at their most vulnerable. Whilst these brave sisters have lost this battle, the strength of public opposition to inheritance tax is growing all the time and we are getting closer to winning the war to abolish it.' - Full story

- Filling up? That'll be £84 please

MOTORISTS will be forced to pay an average £84 to fill up their cars when fuel hits a predicted £1.50 per litre. Fuel is already at a 20-year high and more price hikes are yet to come, experts warn.

Diesel surged to more than 120.17p per litre yesterday while unleaded hit an average 109.95p – only just shy of £5 a gallon. The soaring prices last night prompted calls for the Government to help struggling drivers by cutting fuel duty...

TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott called for the planned fuel duty hike to be scrapped. “The Government are profiteering from high fuel prices, and causing serious misery as they do so,” he said. - Full story

Tuesday April 29

Blogs

5.45pm, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
Too many laws

The problem is inexperienced political leadership.  A lack of clear objectives leads to a mish-mash of many regulations that achieves little but complexity and inconvenience... - Read More

5.20pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy:
West Midlands in Europe talk about the climate

For all West Midlands in Europe can do about climate change, they may just as well be dancing about it as talking about it. They should leave such discussions to global leaders, and divert taxpayers’ money back to where it is needed... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Weighed down by laws that govern our lives

"Mark Wallace, campaign director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "This is a shocking sign of the massive burden of regulation in Britain. Invasive and heavy-handed, government is a blight on business and on ordinary people's lives.'' - Full Article

- Mum dances a jig at court let-off

"But campaign group the TaxPayers’ Alliance said of the decision by Judge Michael Henshell at Manchester Crown Court: “This sends out an appalling message.” - Full Article

- Big diesel and petrol rip-off

"TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign director Mark Wallace said: “The tax- man seems dedicated to making life a misery for people who are just struggling to make ends meet.” - Full Article

Monday 28 April

Council Spending Uncovered 5: The Ten Percent Challenge

Download the full report here (PDF)

Blogs

10.00am, 2012 Watchdog
Mike Denham:
Guzzling At The Olympic Trough

According to the Sunday Times, guzzling at the 2012 trough has plumbed new depths... - Read More

6.00pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy
Local council seeks £2.8 million reimbursement

If this money is awarded back, it should be filtered straight back in to the pockets of those who paid it out to start with, to do what they judge best with it. It certainly shouldn’t become a council honey-pot to be dipped in to fund frivolous projects, driven by legacy-seeking councillors rather than local necessity... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Reducing PR and pensions bill 'could cut council tax by £40'

"Council tax bills could be reduced by £40 a year if local authorities cut back spending on areas such as publicity and pensions, says the TaxPayers' Alliance.

The group has compiled figures showing councils spend more than £400 million on publicity, £1.9 billion on senior management and £4.3 billion on pensions a year." - Full Article

- Fat cats lap up our council tax

"Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Council tax has doubled in the last decade and it now tips many families and pensioners over the edge.”

The group’s chairman Andrew Allum added: “We hear repeatedly that councils are cash-strapped, but there is a lot they can do to reduce costs.” - Full Article

- £660m Tax Bodge

"A shock new report by the TaxPayers' Alliance will this week shows that people in an average and D home could pay £40 a year less tax if councils cut back on PUBLICITY, PAY and PENSIONS." - Full Article

Friday April 25

Blogs

4.50pm, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
Crime Mapping

New Conservative plans, reported in the Telegraph, for detailed, public crime mapping could do great things for the relationship between ordinary people and the police.  Particularly if they are combined with the election of local police chiefs... - Read More

1.00pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
Vote Red Mist

MacKenzie's red mist descended because Elmbridge Council decided to increase the cost of his station's daily car parking charge by 43%. Just like that.

Interesting. Because all of us are suddenly realising how much these local authority charges have escalated. From car parks, to library fines (see this blog), to policing fees (see this blog), to pest control charges, these days local authorities routinely rack up their charges far faster than prices generally... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Matthew Elliott: Cynical tax ploys that give Labour control over so many people

"The British public have suffered many injustices at the hands of their own Government in recent years – prisoners given more protection than victims; schools failing in a blizzard of regulations and initiatives; council tax doubling in return for worse services – but the warped immorality of the tax and benefits system tops them all." - Full Article

- More than 100 MPs employ family members on expenses

"But Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "This is a completely outdated practice that raises people's suspicions about politicians' motives. To ordinary taxpayers, Parliament is an excessively generous gravy train at the best of times, but the fact that so many MPs employ family members is simply unacceptable. To dispel any suspicion that they are taking advantage of taxpayers' generosity, this practice should be banned once and for all." - Full Article

- More than 100 MPs employ relatives at taxpayers' cost

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, which campaigns for lower taxes, said the "outdated practice" should be banned. "Parliament is an excessively generous gravy train at the best of times, but the fact that so many MPs employ family members is simply unacceptable." - Full Article

Thursday April 24

Blogs

5.40pm, Campaign
Tony Flynn:
Norfolk TPA working for lower Council Tax

Norfolk TPA campaigners met with senior members of Norfolk County and South Norfolk District Council yesterday to discuss how the County and District can achieve tax cuts for hard-working families across Norfolk next year... - Read More

5.30pm, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
The National Programme for IT's expensive new bosses

A lot of the problems with the NPfIT are rooted in the fact that the structure was imposed from the top-down and didn't really address the needs of doctors.  In that context, is splitting the "vision" and "partnership" roles into different jobs really the best idea? - Read More

4.35pm, Economics 101
Corin Taylor:
"Slimmer" government do better

The paper shows how countries with low taxes and spending relative to GDP enjoy faster economic and employment growth, lower debt and... - Read More

11.00am, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
VAT and the EU

I want to see this tax reduced, and I think this is the best way of going about it. If the bare worst that can happen is that the campaign highlights the fact that our democratically elected Government has been emasculated and no longer has control of important tax rates then surely that is a helpful thing to the eurosceptic cause, too... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Health IT is too big for one boss: NHS needs two at £200,000 each

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the lobby group TaxPayers’ Alliance, said yesterday that the changes to the NPfIT’s management structure were a tacit admission by the Government that administering it “was far too big for just one person”.

“Top-flight civil servants already cost taxpayers a huge amount in salaries and pensions, so a further increase is an unwelcome addition to that burden,” he added. “The direct, centralised management of the NHS is a massive task that no individual can seriously manage, and that flawed structure has undoubtedly contributed to the disastrous mismanagement of large-scale NHS projects. Centralisation has created a behemoth that is simply unmanageable – and patients and taxpayers are paying the price.” - Full story

- Brown plots new tax raid after 10p u-turn

GORDON Brown was last night drawing up devastating new stealth taxes on middle-income earners to buy off the Labour 10p tax rebellion...

Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: “It is a costly fudge that leaves the middle classes picking up the bill as usual. If the Government really cared about ordinary people they would take radical steps to cut the cost of the public sector, rather than just treating us like a bottomless pit of money.” - Full story

- Bank of England's £3m PR bill

As concerns over the British economy deepen, the bank plans to spend £1m on its seven-strong press office, £315,000 on its seven-strong public enquiries team and £315,000 on its website. Meanwhile, a substantial £945,000 will be spent on the Bank of England Museum on Threadneedle Street and other elements of the bank's educational programme...

The PR spend is sure to raise eyebrows among the public. TaxPayers' Alliance campaign director Mark Wallace said: "The bank must be very careful not to take its eye off the ball by focusing on its public image management and its museum." - Full story

Wednesday April 23

Blogs

11.15am, Campaign
Tim Aker:
Happy St. George's Day

All of us here at the TaxPayers’ Alliance would like to wish all our supporters and activists a happy St. George’s Day... - Read More

11.00am, Burning Our Money
Tim Aker:
Non-job of the week

This week Liverpool City Council burns taxpayers’ money... - Read More

10.00am, Campaign
John Redwood:
Labour tries to tackle fuel and child poverty by creating tax poverty

So come on Labour. Put in place a real anti poverty programme. Understand poverty is a shortage of spending power for anyone who is poor, whether they are young or old, single or married, with or without children. It is bad news for anyone suffering from it. The best and quickest way to get more people out of it is to lower taxes. That means reining in the excesses of the multilayer government and the quango state... - Read More

Media Coverage

- A say on council tax would keep local politicians in line

"With budgets facing the prospect of taxpayers' approval, councillors can be held directly to account. When they promise lower council tax, we'll be sure they deliver it. This is an area of direct democracy where taxpayers can hold local politicians to account.

Tim Aker,
The TaxPayers' Alliance" - Full Article

- Cannes you believe it?

"The RDA's participation in Mipim drew anger from the TaxPayers' Alliance, which campaigns for lower taxes and an end to wastage of public money.

Campaign director Mark Wallace said: "It defies belief that the RDA think an essential part of their job is swanning around Cannes guzzling champagne at our expense.

"When people pay their taxes they expect it to be spent on essential services, such as hospitals and schools and not on things like this." - Full Article

Tuesday April 22

Blogs

5.15pm, 2012 Watchdog
Matthew Sinclair:
The farcical Olympics Budget

There are too key reasons why this went so wrong, problems that exist throughout the public sector but have been particulary chronic in the running of the Olympics... - Read More

10.00am, Campaign
Tim Aker:
A week to save the 10p tax band

Get your friends, colleagues and anyone you know who wants to see a better deal for taxpayers to contact their MP and urge them to vote against the abolition of the 10p tax rate... - Read More

Media Coverage

- I left my wheelie bin lid open 4ins ..now I've got a criminal record

ANGRY Gareth Corkhill has a criminal record and a £225 legal bill - just because he left his wheelie bin lid open four inches. Bus driver Gareth was nabbed after council inspectors, dressed in stab vests, took photos of his rubbish and ordered him to pay an on-the-spot £110 fine...Mark Wallace, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said the case was "another sorry tale of a hard-working individual's life blighted by petty bureaucracy". - Full story

   
- Tax-free years for BAA owner

THE Spanish-controlled company that owns Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports will not pay any corporation tax for several years, potentially leaving the Exchequer pounds 1bn out of pocket. Accounts published this month for Airport Development and Investment (ADI) - the holding company for airports operator BAA, which presided over the shambolic opening of Terminal 5 - show that the company claimed a tax credit of £211m in 2007...

A spokesman for the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "It's shocking that BAA is raking in cash from the British taxpayer, despite doing such a bad job. How on earth can the Government justify this when they are claiming there isn't enough money to provide essential drugs on the NHS or to give hard-pressed taxpayers some relief? T5's passengers were let down badly by BAA, so it's insulting that they have been forced to subsidise the company as well.'' - Full story

- Oh no to a town’s £100k ‘O’

CRACKPOT council chiefs spent £100,000 “rebranding” their town – and ended up with a big circle above the name Oldham. Taxpayers in the town – motto “Dare to be wise” – yesterday savaged their local authority and branded its new logo a waste of money...

The TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “A logo does not improve people’s lives. Councils should focus on the job in hand rather than ego projects.” - Full story

Monday April 21

Blogs

6pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
The tax on disability

Last week we revealed that large amounts of VAT was screwed out of people who were simply trying to get their lives back on track after last summer's floods - now it has emerged that disabled people who need to adapt their homes are in many cases taxed for doing so, even where the Government knows the works are essential... - Read More

5.50pm, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
3.9 million pupils since 1997 have failed to reach an acceptable standard at GCSE

It is high time we thought again and put control back in the hands of teachers and parents.  That way we might not just see improved results but results that people believe in.  Schools would start to cater to parents who want to see their children earn meaningful qualifications rather than politicians that fail to meet diluted targets... - Read More

2.15pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
Thank Goodness For The Old Lady

And what will happen in the mortgage market? Darling and Brown will doubtless claim this move will "unbung" that as well, bringing "fresh hope to hardworking families and first time buyers". Don't believe a word of it. This is about giving the banks a breathing space to rebuild their capital and free up their balance sheets. Mortgage borrowers will not be high on their priority list... - Read More

Media Coverage

- BBC boss retires with £4m pension

"Corin Taylor, the research director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said it was wrong that licence fee payers were contributing to the packages enjoyed by BBC executives.

"We've got to this really unfair state of affairs where huge numbers of people who don't have a decent pension are having to pay ever higher taxes to fund gold-plated public sector pensions,'' he said." - Full Article

- Lord Carswell: an apology

“In an article in The Observer on 20 April it was stated that travel expenses claimed by law lords last year included reimbursements to Lord Carswell, who lives in Northern Ireland, of £12,731. It was stated that he attended only 6 days of public business and that the sum therefore equated to £2,121.83 per day. A comment followed from Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers’ Alliance: “Peers shouldn’t treat their expense account as a general kitty to compensate themselves for not having a salary”.

In fact, the law lords are salaried full-time judges sitting in the House of Lords as the final court of appeal for the United Kingdom, and they sit for four days a week throughout the law terms. Lord Carswell’s expenses represent solely the cost of his weekly travel to and from Northern Ireland to sit on appeals; he receives no other expenses, and none for attending public business. We accept that Lord Carswell has not received excessive or improper expenses and withdraw the imputation. We apologise unreservedly for this error.” - Full story

- RAF fury over Prince William's £30,000 helicopter stunt in Kate Middleton's backyard

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "There's nothing wrong with being romantic, but using taxpayers money at a time when troops on the frontline need every penny of kit seems inappropriate." - Full Article

Friday April 18

Blogs

4.25pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy:
Supplementary Business Rates threatening to hit West Midlands business for £30 million

Consultations on the introduction of this new tax will come to their almost inevitable conclusion in June, after which your local businesses could be burdened with a 5% increase in their rates – stumping up funds to subsidise local government's inefficiency... - Read More

1.30pm, Better Government
Ben Farrugia:
Refusing to accept the facts

Head-teachers need more independence, not more money, and the governments’ refusal to accept this ensures a continued sub-standard education for thousands of children... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Builders in £300m price-fix probe

"Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Public sector projects are paid for by ordinary people who struggle to make ends meet, so the idea that they may have been defrauded is sickening.'' However he said the cases suggested "incompetence'' in the public sector, and responsibility also lay with "soft touch'' officials." - Full Article

- Council tax up by £4,000

"Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Council tax is a massive burden for millions and has gone through the roof in the last decade.

“Local government is in a mess, and ordinary families are suffering as a result. There is no private industry that could double its prices and fail to improve its service, but that is what councils have done." - Full Article

- Outrage at £750K for junkies forced to quit heroin in jail

"The TaxPayers' Alliance added: "If you're in jail you should be forced to be 'clean'." The inmates claimed their rights were breached when forced to do "cold turkey" instead of getting the drug substitute methadone." - Full Article

- Junkie lags get £4,000 for giving up heroin

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, stormed yesterday: “It’s disgusting that law-abiding taxpayers are being forced to pay money to these drug-addled criminals.

“If you are in jail, of course you should be forced to be clean. The prison system is failing precisely because meddling bureaucrats and foolish legislation stops prison guards doing their job." - Full Article

Thursday April 17

Blogs

5.15pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
Bankers On A Promise

We've been trying to uncover exactly what the government has promised to the banks. But so far taxpayers have been told very little. Still, the bankers definitely know they're on a promise, as we can see from their share prices... - Read More

Media Coverage

This is from today’s Channel 4 news commenting on the OFT’s allegations of construction industry bid rigging in public sector projects. TPA has been criticising any firm which has sought to rip off taxpayers, but also pointing out that the inexperience and incompetence of public sector officials means that contracts are often poorly negotiated, laying taxpayers open to this kind of abuse.  To watch this click here then “Watch the Report”

- Pay levels at councils defended

"Last month, a campaign group released the results of a survey of all the councils in the UK showing how much each council chief executive earned.

Taxpayers' Alliance claimed the highest paid council chief executive in Wales for 2006-7 was Cardiff's Byron Davies on £151,186." - Full Article

- £2,800 case of the apple thrown out of a car is thrown out of court

"Mark Wallace, of the Taxpayers Alliance, said: 'This is an appalling use of power and a complete waste of money.'" - Full Article

- Quango where 100 staff earn over £100,000

"Last year a TaxPayers' Alliance report found that TfL chief executive Peter Hendy earns £435,000 a year - meaning it takes him just four hours and 11 minutes to earn £1,000.

The alliance's campaign director, Mark Wallace, said: 'It's staggering that so many TfL staff are on such massive salaries.

'While passengers struggle to make their way through London's creaking transport system, these execs must be laughing all the way to the bank.

'TfL is a troubled organisation, and given its serial failings commuters will be shocked that the people in charge are being so handsomely rewarded for overseeing London's transport chaos.'" - Full Article

Wednesday April 16

Blogs

4.30pm, Better Government
Ben Farrugia:
Clarion Call of Common Sense

This week the Adam Smith Institute launched a new report on privatisation, calling for the sale of remaining government interests in institutions such as the Royal Mail and water companies... - Read More

4.15pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
A window into the high tax mind

Fundamentally, the point of division is that we believe in letting people keep more of their own money and do with it as they wish, whereas this putative campaign the Fabians propose would be taking money from people, removing their freedom to manage their own affairs and telling the public that the Government knows best how their money should be spent... - Read More

4.00pm, Campaign
Tim Aker:
Fabianista Folly

So it’s probably best for us to let Ms MacTaggart know what sort of a hypocrite she is and how strongly the British people stand against the death tax.

Please contact her through the email given on her website or through the parliament website... - Read More

3.30pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy
Quango Board of the Week:  Week Four

This week however, it’s time to focus on the mother quango, responsible for many other money-wasting and uneccessary projects in our region – it’s local Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands... - Read More

11.15am, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
Who is in charge?

We all lose out because consumers have no power over a health service run by unnaccountable quangos like the PCTs.  Politicians dictate the objectives, quangos provide the detail and the views and needs of doctors and patients are largely sidelined... - Read More

10.45am, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
HMRC double standards

Unfortunately this new outbreak of double standards is part of a broader pattern... - Read More

9.30am, Burning Our Money
Tim Aker:
Non-job of the week

Aside from the blank advert, costing thousands of pounds, the job itself is more of the same from local government... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Outrage over call for tough new death tax

A CAMPAIGN launched yesterday for a new kind of inheritance tax was branded the work of “desperate dinosaur socialists”. A Left-wing think-tank wants to give people a “lifetime quota” of gifts that would be tax free. Everything above that limit would be taxed at different rates...

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Inheritance tax is an unfair tax on families when they are at  their most vulnerable. It is utterly wrong that after paying tax all their lives, people are punished for saving for their children’s future. This proposal to resuscitate the death tax is a last- ditch attempt by a reactionary clique of dinosaur socialists who seem to think it is good to tax people for trying to do their best for their families. The changes suggested would produce a system even worse than the old inheritance tax. It would be bureaucratic nightmare that would hit large numbers of ordinary families. The people of Britain have rejected inheritance tax. It is time the Fabian Society and their high-taxing comrades accepted that." - Full story

- William borrowed a £10m helicopter to fly to stag party

MOST young men are happy to jump in a taxi to get to a stag do. But not Prince William. The second in line to the throne used a £10million RAF helicopter to fly to a drunken weekend in the Isle of Wight, it emerged last night...Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'It is jaw- dropping that this was given approval.' - Full story

- Police bow to pressure to cut out "ploddledygook"

BOSSES at Suffolk police have bowed to pressure from a language watchdog to cut out the “ludicrous ploddledygook” in their senior officer titles. It is understood the force is to re-brand Knowledge Architecture the Department of Information, Communication and Technology, putting them in sync with their Norfolk colleagues.

It comes after The Plain English Campaign urged them and other forces to go back to basics after criticising their unusual choice of language...They labelled it “ploddleygook” while the Taxpayers' Alliance questioned whether it was wasting public money. - Full story

Tuesday April 15

Blogs

10.30am, Economics 101
Matthew Sinclair:
Shire Pharmaceuticals to leave the UK

High levels of tax have hurt our international competitiveness but, although big companies have left before, this is usually hidden by the fact that it is new investment that goes elsewhere rather than existing companies in the UK leaving.  Now it is becoming more apparent than ever that Britain's long term prosperity is being imperilled by an increasingly uncompetitive tax system... - Read More

Media Coverage

Fiona McEvoy, TPA West Midlands Campaign Agent, discusses unfair council tax bandings with BBC South East Today.

- Drugs giant to quit UK over tax

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of action group the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This disastrous news confirms that Britain’s competitiveness has suffered a series of blows from misguided tax hikes.”" - Full Article

- Parties in rent scam

"POLITICAL parties are raking in thousands in taxpayers' cash by renting offices to MPs 50 per cent higher than market value.

Figures show all parties including the Labour and Tories claimed £1.3 million or £7,400 each for 180 MPs who rent party offices. But the average for all MPs including private renters is £5,000. The TaxPayers' Alliance called for all expenses to be published." - Full Article

- MPs use our cash to pay parties rent

"TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign director Mark Wallace said: “The public are very concerned about how their money is being spent and these figures will heighten those concerns.

“Our politicians must now publish all of their expenses in detail to reassure the public that the system is not being used for personal benefit or as a means of state funding of political parties through the backdoor.” - Full Article

Monday April 14

Blogs

5.15pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
Free speech about the Speaker

Spending large amounts of public money to try to keep information about where our money is spent secret is a disgrace and is hugely damaging to public faith in Parliament. Worse, the Speaker and the Commons Commission claim to speak for all MPs in doing their best to keep Westminster free of public scrutiny. No wonder MPs feel harshly judged - the Speaker is claiming to have their mandate for his unethical, antidemocratic and arrogant campaign... - Read More

3.30pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
Gobsmacker Of The Month

As for her excuse that she had "no idea" how the benefits system works, we're inclined to believe her. Such is the quagmire of Brown's benefits system, most of her ex-colleagues are probably in the exactly same position... - Read More

2.30pm, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
Biofuel folly

All these problems are caused by inexperienced politicians who weren't able to understand how weak the arguments in support of biofuels were.  So weak that even the green movement has now given up on them... - Read More

12.00pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
Head Bangers

Does anyone believe that?

The banks have provided a decade of cheap mortgage finance, much of it based on dodgy wholesale funding practices that sooner or later were going to go phut. Now they have. Cheap mortgages are over. The banks have to recoup losses and rebuild capital. Borrowers will pay the price in higher rates. Simple as... - Read More

11.15am, Campaign
Tim Aker:
Nice work if you can get it in West Sussex

If you spot any non-job in your local paper – just like John did – email it to us so we can publicise the waste... - Read More

9.30am, Campaign
Tim Aker:
Your money, their broadband connection

Sutton’s ruling councillors are not putting taxpayer value for money first!

If you wish to make your thoughts clear to Sutton’s councillors, you can find their contact details on our previous blog here... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Treasury 'made £525m from floods'

"Matthew Elliot, the chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It is disgusting that the Treasury has profited from the misery and suffering of others.

"VAT on house repairs is harming our housing stock and punishing good behaviour, now it is penalising people who had suffered a natural disaster. The taxman has sunk to a new low with this shameful tax grab.'' - Full Article

- The Peter McKay Column

"THE BBC's creative director Alan Yentob, 61, who earns more than £300,000 a year, claims £27,000 on expenses, which includes £120 for a cake, £16,830 for 'entertainment' and £25 for fixing a DVD in a BBC car. He is one of a 'gilded few' at the BBC who, says the Taxpayers' Alliance, claim salaries and expenses 'as if they were hedge fund managers'. A BBC spokesman says: 'We have very strict guidelines on expenses.' Yeah, right!" - Full Article

- The drinks are on us

"Matthew Elliott, of the Taxpayers' Alliance campaign group, said: ' Taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill for an office and staff who are a relic of the pre-devolution era.'" - Full Article

- Ploddledygook: Attack on the police jargon mountain

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'All this "ploddledygook" might be funny, but there's a serious side.

'If police forces are wasting public money churning out this sort of rubbish it's no wonder they have problems. It's very simple. People want coppers to come when they're called and catch criminals.'" - Full Article

- Tory MP under fire for calling on speaker to step down

"The Speaker chairs the Commons Commission, which is currently carrying out a comprehensive review of MPs' expenses since the row over claims by the former Conservative MP Derek Conway, who employed two of his sons on his payroll.

Earlier this year, the Speaker came under attack from Mark Wallace, the campaign director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, for keeping that job while his wife was under investigation for her taxi bill." - Full Article

Friday April 11

Blogs

5.30pm, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
Politicians should tend to their own responsibilities instead of spending their time hassling business

Two stories from the Telegraph today that have a common theme... In both cases the private sector is being forced, either directly or through threat of regulation, to tend to Government priorities rather than getting on with its own job of trying to obtain a return for its shareholders by providing for its customers... - Read More

4.00pm, Campaign
Tim Aker:
Dispatches from the frontline: Hatfield and Envelopes, many, many envelopes

This week I saw two sides of the grassroots campaign... - Read More

3.00pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
Hot or not?

Gonzalo Otalora wants to tax attractive people, with the proceeds going into the pockets of the ugly... - Read More

9.15am, Campaign
Tim Aker:
Poole Council spies on a family for three weeks

Someone has to carry the can for this gross invasion of privacy.  Please contact Poole’s Councillors to ask them to investigate this obscene breach of privacy.  Here are the contact details... - Read More

Media Coverage

- London crime costs us £400 a year each

"The new figures were released by the TaxPayers' Alliance, whose Chief Executive Matthew Elliott said: "Crime is set to be the issue in the election. Londoners are looking for a mayor who will tackles the epidemic." - Full Article

- High price of launching ID cards as consultants cost us £150m

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Mismanagement, political meddling and poor organisation have resulted in chaos across our public services - trying to patch up the holes with expensive consultants clearly isn't the solution.

"Too often ministers and civil servants turn to consultants in a panic when things are going wrong and effectively sign a blank cheque, paid for by the taxpayer.

"Even the best consultant can't do more than tinker around the edges of a system which is fundamentally flawed.

"If we really want to solve the high costs and poor performance of public services then we need radical reform to eliminate political meddling, involve people with management experience in service delivery and give the public choice in how their money is spent." - Full Article

- Failed Asylum Seeker fights for free healthcare

"Last night Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, warned: 'Our services are dangerously overstretched already due to mismanagement, waste and inaccurate population statistics.

'We simply cannot afford to foot the bill for anyone who turns up on our doorstep - and it is especially wrong that illegal immigrants or those who have been refused asylum should be paid for at the expense of lawabiding taxpayers.

'The NHS struggles to provide a good standard of care even for those for whom it is intended.

'The further burden of illegal immigrants and the inevitable flood of health migrants would be the straw that broke the camel's back.'" - Full Article

Thursday April 10

The Cost of Crime in London

Download the full report (PDF)

Blogs

6.15pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace
Teacake Controversy

  I suppose I ought to declare an interest in this story - I not only love lower, simpler taxes, I love chocolate teacakes. Even if I didn't, though, this would stand out as a ridiculous example of the problems a complex tax system brings... - Read More

4.30pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy
NHS ferries patients from North Staffs PCT to Burton - at £20k each!

Now - two years and £4m later - they've still only persuaded 200 patients to travel for treatment... at a cost of £20,000 each! - Read More

11.30am, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
IMF On Tax-funded Bank Bailouts

The obvious next question is to ask how that all stacks up against how Mr Brown handled the Northern Rock crisis? Let's run through the IMF's guidelines [...] So that's... let me see... nought out of five... - Read More

11.00am, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy:
Council spend £800k on refurb and close disabled day-care centre

Worcestershire County Council certainly haven’t been shy of spending in recent years... - Read More

9.30am, Campaign
Mark Wallace talks to Friction TV about the 10 per cent tax rate
Watch Video

 

9.00am, Burning Our Money
Tim Aker:
Non-job of the week

...week after week there is never a shortage of local government non-jobs filling up the middle management roster in local government... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Crime costs Londoners £3bn a year

"Matthew Sinclair, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said the study showed crime costs needed to be reduced as well as crime rates.

'Londoners, particularly those in the poorest boroughs, pay the price for high crime rates every day,' he said.

'Whether we have been victims, are afraid to go out at night or are just paying ever more to protect and insure ourselves, crime has big economic, emotional and human costs.

'We urgently need politicians to end the excuses, show real civic leadership and enable the police to take action and replicate the radical reductions in crime seen in other cities such as New York." - Full Article

- Greybeards still have their slippers under council tables despite £1.6m ‘golden goodbye’

"As local elections loom, the average age of councillors across 10 local authorities surveyed is 61, exactly the same as it was in the run-up to the 2004 local elections, leading the Taxpayers Alliance to claim last night that Welsh taxpayers had been “taken for fools”." - Full Article

- Councils write off £130m in tax

"Campaign group the TaxPayers' Alliance described the figures as "shocking".

"At a time when pensioners are being sent to jail for not being able to pay relatively small amounts, it is shocking that councils are happy to write off millions," a spokesman said.

"Council tax is putting an unsustainable burden on ordinary families, and allowing this hole in the budget to continue adds to that burden." - Full Article

- 100k salary for council finance job

"Corin Taylor, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "We have had council tax doubling over the last few years and a lot of people in the public sector are getting pay rises, and it's not right."

He called for full accountability in council accounts, saying they should state which employees were on which salaries, and should include full details of any bonuses or performance-related pay.

Mr Taylor said: "The best way to cut down on excesses and make sure good performance is rewarded and bad pay not, is for councils to be totally transparent about what they are awarding people." - Full Article

Wednesday April 9

Blogs

4.30pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy:
Quango Board of the Week: Week Three

Getting artsy this week, it’s the turn of Culture West Midlands. Who? Well you pay for them... - Read More

Click here to read the TPA's interview with John Redwood MP.

11.15am, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
'We need more consultants' say the BMA

However, the reason why we don't have as many consultants as in other countries isn't that we've been stingy with the health service.  Funding has gone up rapidly and we now spend just about exactly at the OECD average.  It is that increases in funding... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Quarter of nursing students quit before qualifying

"Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, described the figures as shocking.

He said: "This waste is letting down taxpayers, patients and would-be nurses. Either they are recruiting people who aren't suitable for the course or they are putting off keen candidates.

"Every penny of this money is needed for healing the sick, so it should not be squandered like this.'" - Full Article

- Bins will be emptied only if lids are shut tightly

"Mark Wallace, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "As far as most taxpayers are concerned, you put your refuse in your bin and expect it to be collected. For councils not to collect it because the lid is not shut is absurd.

"This kind of bureaucratic policy will just lead to more fly-tipping and rubbish being left by the roadside." - Full Article

- £98m bill for nurse dropouts

"Matthew Elliott, of the Tax Payers Alliance, fumed: “This wastage is letting down taxpayers, patients and would-be nurses.

“It is a disgrace. Either they are recruiting unsuitable people or they are putting off keen candidates.

“Every penny of this money is urgently needed and shouldn’t be squandered like this.”" - Full Article

Tuesday April 8

Blogs

12.05pm, Economics 101
Matthew Sinclair:
Tax evasion vs. tax avoidance

However, the basic problem is that the people who pay the highest price are never the rich foreigners that many on the left like to set up as bogeymen.  It is ordinary people... This morning we found this 1909 election poster from the excellent collection at the Bodleian library which illustrates the basic problem pretty beautifully... - Read More

10.00am, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
More evidence that dysfunctional public sector management contributes to the hospital infections crisis

Stories today, and over the weekend, illustrate how the problems with public sector management undermine attempts to keep hospitals clean and hygienic... - Read More

Media Coverage

  - Cost cutting council boss in 8pc pay rise

"The salary increase has come to light after a Freedom of Information request by the Taxpayers' Alliance which contacted councils asking which employees earned more than £100,000 a year." - Full Article

- Fury over council's high tech voting system

"Mark Wallace, of the national Taxpayers' Alliance campaign group, said: "This is absurd. The system of simply counting who has actually voted has worked for centuries, and is good enough for the UK parliament. So why not Blackburn with Darwen council?

"Moreover, this does not come cheap. Money that could be spent on roads, libraries and care for the elderly should not be spent adding high-tech gadgets to the council chamber." - Full Article

- COUNCIL LEADERS PAID A TOTAL OF £1.3M A YEAR

"TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliot said it was right that the salaries of other high-earning officers were made public.

He said: "Taxpayers have a right to know how much senior town hall officials are being paid because only then can we judge whether they deserve their remuneration." - Full Article

Monday April 7

Blogs

11.15am, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
Youth crime up

The human cost of this rise in youth crime, reported by the Telegraph, must be hard to overestimate... - Read More

10.45am, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
Enron Debt Ticker

Public sector pensions and nuclear decommissioning are both big liabilities for taxpayers. Both are growing. Yet neither appear as debt on the government's Enron balance sheet.

Open and honest, it isn't... - Read More

10.30am, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
Number of NHS complaints increases

Only if patients are given the power to take their business elsewhere when ill-treated by hospital staff will there be the right incentive for improvement... - Read More

Media Coverage

- Girlfriends and boyfriends of MPs to get travel allowance

"Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "Every reform of MPs' expenses seems to involve even more taxpayers' money. A system including boyfriends, girlfriends, lovers, dates and goodness knows who else would be impossible to administer." - Full Article