The TaxPayers' Alliance - Campaign

Councillor thinks he can do job 600 miles away

A few weeks ago a furore broke out over the Camden Councillor who moved to Arizona to study for a PhD.  Due to the outrage that he was still pocketing a £700 a month allowance, he’s subsequently tendered his resignation to the Council.  Consider that taxpayers one, councillors aboard the gravy train nil. 

Now TPA activist Tony Sharp has found that a Northamptonshire County Councillor believes he can do his job just as well from Switzerland.  From all of some 600 miles away from Northamptonshire, Cllr James Ashton believes he can sufficiently represent his constituents.  But he can't inspect potholes that need fixing, meet constituents who have pressing concerns and attend meetings despite being hundreds of miles away.  Moreover, is he still claiming his £7,086 taxpayer-funded allowance despite only being able to email or call officers and constituents?

Tony also comments on the disgraceful state of the County Council website:

“The end of the Evening Telegraph article says he is a member of the Enterprise Scrutiny Committee and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Committee. This is borne out by the website page for Cllr Ashton. However, the Democratic Services department at Northamptonshire County Council have confirmed to me that these committees no longer exist. They have been replaced by the Customers and Communities Committee, of which Cllr Ashton is not a member.

The County Council website is so completely out of date it is not clear what committees, if any, he is a member of. If he is not a member of any committee, a question that needs to be asked is whether he has avoided committee membership so he can limit his council duties thus enabling him to commute from Switzerland.

Therefore it is possible the only council meetings Cllr Ashton attends are those of the full council, of which there have only been three since March. Although residents rightly expect their councillor to sit on committees and represent their interests, it could be that Cllr Ashton is not delivering his end of the deal. By retaining his County Council seat and potentially only attending three meetings in the last six months, Cllr Ashton is still entitled to his basic member's allowance of around £7,000 per annum, any special responsibility allowances and of course travel expenses.”

As it seems Cllr Ashton is using his email to remain in contact with his constituents, why not ask him yourself to justify his absence from his constituency and whether he is still claiming his £7,000+ a year salary? 

Email him at JAshton@northamptonshire.gov.uk and ask him these very important questions.  As always, if you get any replies - and you should seeing as Cllr Ashton is committed to working on email to represent his constituents - then do let us know by emailing them through to me.  We can't let councillors cut and run with your money.  After all, there should be no taxation without representation.

Thanks for reading.  If you agree with our campaign for lower taxes and want to know more about the TPA, you can register online, completely free of charge, here.

An image that says a thousand words...

...just not in English

The above was found on the Freedom of Information page at North Lincolnshire Council's website.  From their census in 2001, 2.5% of residents were from an ethnic minority, who this service is aimed at.  Needless to say the Freedom of Information request is in the post to see how much is spent on this service for what is barely 3,000 people.

Half-day for Council workers to go 'Christmas Shopping'

No word of a lie but Nick Ferrari on LBC Radio has revealed that Leicestershire County Council will allow its staff to take an afternoon off just to go Christmas shopping (found in the Leicestershire local paper too).  Good for them, but they’re still on the clock.  As far as I know public sector workers don’t receive piece rates or an hourly wage, but they get a salary.  So, while they’re jingling all the way to the shopping centre, we’re paying for their privilege.

Cllr Kevin Feltham defended this to clamp down on staff taking time off ‘sick’ just to go Christmas shopping…at your expense.  This sweeping generalisation from Cllr Feltham assumes all council workers fake sickies just to go Christmas shopping, when that’s very unlikely. 

So write in, get the debate going and hold Leicestershire County Council to account!

Letters Editor
The Leicester Mercury
Send letter in on Website: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132596&command=newPage

Launch of the Derby TPA Branch

The Derby TaxPayers’ Alliance branch launched yesterday with a meeting of prominent tax activists in Derby and a leading journalist from the Derby Evening Telegraph interested in the formation of the local grassroots branch.  Joining us is Josephine Rooney, who came to national attention when she refused to pay her council tax last year resulting in her, albeit temporary, imprisonment.  She joins our Derby campaign as we prepare for next year’s expected council tax rise.

Heading our Derby campaign is Dave Black, a former councillor and community activist.  Dave, so he tells me, holds the world record for driving through a flaming tunnel from his days as a stuntman.  Needless to say if we have those used to hard knocks in the campaign we’ll do fine taking political punches from the establishment as they try to counter our drive for lower taxes and better government.

Dave explained that the most pressing matters are council overspending, holding the council to account over their accounts and – obviously – council tax.  He will be recruiting over the coming weeks and months to prepare for next year’s battle over council tax.  With enough coverage locally we can amass a grassroots campaign the politicians will hopefully listen to.  If you want to get in touch with Dave and the Derby campaign then call our Derby hotline on 0845 330 9554 or email him at daveblack@uku.co.uk.  We look forward to interesting developments up in Derby and hope you can come and get involved.

Libraries stocking books of hate

The Centre for Social Cohesion reports that libraries are spending public funds to stock books that promote Islamic extremism and glorify terrorism.  The libraries in London, Birmingham and Blackburn stocked books by convicted preachers Abu Hamza and Abdullah Al-Faisal.  The report's main focus, however, is on public libraries in Tower Hamlets.  It exposes eight lending libraries in Tower Hamlets that glorify, incite and endorse acts of terrorism against those of other religions and faiths.  You can read the full report here.

Taxpayers should be alarmed and outraged that our taxes are going to pay for works inciting violence.  Moreover, where is the accountability in the system to at least offer a balance?  It would be wrong to ban any book; we like to believe we are all reasonable people able to interpret ideas and debate issues facing us.  But we should draw the line when so many of these radical books appear on public bookshelves. 

We’re rallying our members in Tower Hamlets and the wider country to write into Tower Hamlets newspapers and make this an issue.  It’s not fair, right or just for our taxes to fund books preaching hate and violence.  So make your voice heard.  Write to:

Letters Editor
The Tower Hamlets Recorder
182 - 184 High Street North,
London,
E6 2JD,
United Kingdom
Email: john.finn@newhamrecorder.co.uk (specify that the letter is for the Tower Hamlets Recorder letters page)

Fighting talk from TPA Derby Organiser

Derby TaxPayers’ Alliance Organiser Dave Black has taken the fight to Derby councillors over their incompetent management of Derby council.  In a letter to Derby newspapers he slates the council’s “barefaced effrontery” in claiming “they are improving services, when the most comprehensive cuts for a decade are ruthlessly imposed”.  Again it’s a case of councils spending our money on bureaucrats and apparatchiks and not on services that make taxpayers lives so much better. 

Dave is also calling for a directly elected Mayor, with executive powers, so taxpayers can know where the buck stops.  Under the current system councillors pass the buck to the regional assembly who pass the buck to the MP and return you to the council.  With a directly elected Mayor holding reserved powers over local policy, we can have more transparent government to know where our money is being spent.  I will be meeting with Dave this week to organise a petition in Derby in support of an elected Mayor!

Dave’s full letter is below:

"Dear Editor,

BAREFACED EFFRONTERY

Councillor Williamson 3rd Sept in your opinion column, appears to be at odds with what is happening on the ground as Home Helps and Old Peoples Live at Home Services are pared to the bone.  It is barefaced effrontery to claim they are improving services, when the most comprehensive cuts for a decade are ruthlessly imposed. Maybe it is because they are strapped for cash and the pigeons are coming home to roost, as I predicted as a candidate at this year's council elections.

It might also be pertinent to enquire at this point, what the hapless tory supporters in his cabinet are doing about this. If they had any gumption they would resign from the cabinet enbloc and bring down this useless bunch of self-serving hypocrites by voting with the wishy-washy lib-dems and so-called independents, these councillors who only appear to be there for the attendance money. They need to prove they can be useful for something.

Doesn't all this go in favour of my continuing campaign for an elected mayor with executive powers, someone who could sort out this bunch of no-hopers at a stroke. Bring on the next election, bring on the Taxpayer's Alliance, who will be endorsing candidates to make sure our taxes are spent on the real priorities and not on the grandiose schemes they have cooked up with the high rollers who are causing the daily gridlock in our city centre, in anticipation of a vast jackpot at our expense.

Dave Black,
Derby Organiser for the Taxpayer's Alliance."

Well done Dave!  Dave is one of hundreds of TaxPayers’ Alliance activists who are standing up for taxpayers by getting involved in public debates.  Whether it’s by writing a letter, calling a phone-in radio show or handing out leaflets, it all helps and keeps tax and spending issues on the political agenda.

If you’d like to get involved in the Derby TaxPayers’ Alliance email info@taxpayersalliance.com or call our Derby hotline on 0845 330 9554.  Alternatively if you have campaign ideas for Derby, call our Grassroots Coordinator, Tim Aker, on 0845 330 9554 and get involved today!