...they continue to dish them out themselves. I have lost count of the number of times that Gordon Brown and other Ministers have said this week that the bankers who drove their companies to destruction should not be "rewarded for failure". It's an admirable sentiment, and one we have been... Read more...
Down at the site office waiting for Darling's blank cheque We've blogged PFI many times (start here and see all previous posts gathered here). In theory, it could be a good deal for taxpayers, because instead of trying to build and maintain hospitals and schools itself, the government gets private... Read more...
The attendance records of Wolverhampton city councillors are available on The Stirrer website today and while some councillors are clearly very active in representing their electorate, there are others who are putting in the bare minimum of effort in exchange for their allowances. If you’d like to see how... Read more...
When Advantage West Midlands granted £25,000 to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council to improve the image of Cheadle (The Sentinel), the most obvious first move was to hire in expensive marketing and tourism experts, Juice Marketing, to consult on the town’s new image. But now the publicity materials are out the... Read more...
It has been reported today that Brighton and Hove health trust are piloting a scheme to stop children as young as ten from smoking. So, what's the bright idea? Give them £10-£15 in cash or shopping vouchers. Now, we may be in the grip of a recession but it occurs to... Read more...
The excellent and ardent reformer Daniel Hannan MEP declared earlier this week that "Criticism of MPs' expenses has gone too far" in the wake of the Jacqui Smith controversy. Needless to say, almost, but I disagree. Daniel's particular criticism is of the idea that the fact that wheezes such... Read more...
According to the Shrewsbury Chronicle, Shropshire County Council has left a £310,000 sensory bus for people with learning difficulties idle for no less than three years due to interdepartmental bumbling. The bus went out of service back in 2006 when the council’s only HGV driver went on long term... Read more...
From the table opposite showing the number of government jobs on offer, you’d be amazed to hear rumours this morning that unemployment will be confirmed at two million later today. But alas, that’s unemployment in the engine of our economy, the private sector. You know, it’s the sector that makes... Read more...
Until recently there were three roughly distinct sectors to the UK economy; the public, the private and the Orwellian sounding 'third' (consisting of charities and other non-profit groups). Political enthusiasm for out-sourcing services, the financial crisis and a current taste for bail-outs have, over time, come to blur the lines... Read more...
Polly Toynbee's article in today's Guardian starts out with a lot of rhetoric about "rottweilers" and "insidious poison". She writes as if we're Britain's only political campaign. In reality, there are a multitude of groups campaigning on every issue under the sun. While we are proud of our work, the reason... Read more...
Yesterday, Chris Whittington, one of our Worcester TPA activists and Chairman of Cropthorne Parish Council received an email from Wychavon District Council to herald the arrival of wheelie bins to his area. Unfortunately, Chris’ reply caused something of a sense of humour bypass at WDC (though it’s achingly close... Read more...
Today the Telegraph reports that nine out of ten parents want to see the SATs system scrapped: "More than 85 per cent said exams for 11-year-olds should be abolished, said the study. The majority want them to be replaced by a system of teacher assessment - when staff judge... Read more...
First Whitehall-wide report on flights spending reveals that last year a total of over £18.5 million was spent on flights by Government departments. More than half - £10.6 million - went on first class and business class seats. The total bill for public sector flights, including quangos... Read more...
A new petition has been launched on the Downing Street website to call for an inquiry into the huge waste of taxpayers’ money on The Public in West Bromwich. Its creator says the following; There has been so much debate about The Public that I feel everyone should... Read more...
Watching Gordon Brown dodge questions over the "Buy American" clauses in the US stimulus a few days ago, I was reminded of just how much he is gambling on the US strategy. Obviously keen not to jeopardise the progress of Obama's plan in any way, Gordon Brown - long an... Read more...
Taxpayers are buying this Having already blown billions on bank bailouts, Mr Brown is now intending to blow even more by buying a bad bank.At the risk of stating the obvious, let's just make sure we all understand what that means.The Bad Bank will be owned by taxpayers and it will buy an unknown... Read more...
There is a remarkable piece of news in the Daily Mail today, about an MP who has apparently been sued by a constituent for allegedly failing to represent him properly. Ann Keen MP was ordered by Brentford County Court to pay damages of £15,000 to a constituent who claims... Read more...
Plenty of government jobs on offer this week, folks, as you can see from the Guardian's table opposite. We'll be running these tables weekly so you can see how much the government is advertising for positions to increase the size of government. More to the point, notice how an overwhelming majority... Read more...
I had a rather odd – and rather loud – phone call earlier today from Derek Draper, who runs the LabourList blog, about the issue of large companies who are moving to other countries to take advantage of their lower tax rates.The fact that Draper should call us at all... Read more...
It was reported by the BBC today that Derek Conway has apologised "without qualification" after he was ordered to return £3,757 of taxpayers' money paid to his elder son Henry. Isn't that nice? The only thing is, even after paying this back, he still has moral debt to settle with taxpayers. ... Read more...
There has been much discussion today about the new report from the Children's Society, which claims to have found that today's children are less happy than the children of past generations. The report raises issues of parenting, education, child psychology and all sorts that I shan't cover here. On one... Read more...
Despite increasing their middle-management spend by over £11million in just one year (alongside the raft of six-figure salary directors on their payroll) it was revealed today that Birmingham City Council will spend no less than £67m on consultants and advisors this year. An article in today’s Birmingham Post reveals... Read more...
Whilst I was searching for information on my previous blog, I came to this story from the Surrey Advertiser that I just had to write about. In an obscene act of arrogance and hubris, Surrey County Council big wigs, councillors and public sector worthies will be spending £10,000 of taxpayers’... Read more...
Our Surrey TPA organizer Peter Webb was quoted last week on the astonishing case of Surrey County Council’s pension shortfall, the value of the fund declining with the fall in the markets as the recession deepens. The only problem here is that non-state sector taxpayers are not only seeing their... Read more...