The TaxPayers' Alliance - Home

Friday July 10

12.45pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
Where Credit is Due

For people interested in exploring the submerged trenches of European policy, one particular website comes highly recommended. euabc.eu has been set up by veteran EU campaigner and lately retired Danish MEP Jens-Peter Bonde. It’s definitely worth checking over on a rainy day... - Read More

Western Mail, New rules make politicians look dodgy, says minister
The Wimbledon Guardian, Merton Council 'jolly' costs taxpayer almost £9k
The Mirror, £4m bill for blunder ops
Daily Express, SOFT-TOUCH ASYLUM AS 144,000 GET ‘BACK-DOOR AMNESTY’
Daily Express, FURY OVER £50,000 RENT-A-COP PRIVATE SECURITY SCHEME
Daily Star, 150,000 ASYLUM SEEKERS TO STAY
Daily Mail, 'Two-tier' policing row as force allows businesses to hire extra bobbies on the beat
South Wales Guardian, Food allowances of AMs revealed
Milton Keynes Citizen, iPod tempter to take sexual health test
Daily Mail, MPs face new backlash as they prepare for 12-week break

Thursday July 9

Blogs

5.45pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace
More evidence that lower spending is popular
More evidence has emerged today of the popularity of cuts in the level of public spending, from the most unlikely source: Harriet Harman. New research by Guido Fawkes suggests that the public are not only enthusiastic for tax cuts, they are actively in favour of lower spending... Read More

4.00pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy
Public continue to shell out for blighted gallery
It’s unlikely many are shocked by today’s news that the Arts Council have granted The Public gallery in West Bromwich the £3million it all but promised, “subject to business plans”, as a sort of sorry when it ‘reluctantly’ withdrew from bankrolling the project in January this year... Read More

3.15pm, Better Government
Adam Wildman
The tale of the discriminating Chairman of the Discrimination Committee
Trevor Phillips, the Chairman of the government’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, was yesterday in the dock charged with discrimination by a member of his own staff.  Irish-born Brid Johal (an aide to the aide of Phillips) accused the Chairman of over-looking her for promotion as a result of her going on maternity leave... Read More

3.15pm, Better Government
James Dawkins
Imaginary Job Applicants cost you £170,000
Jim Knight, Employment Minister, has acknowledged in written answers that the government spent nearly £170,000 of taxpayers’ money, between November 2008 and May 2009, on sending out fake job applications to see if employers discriminated against foreign-sounding names... Read More

  1.30pm, Campaign
Tim Aker
A planning disaster averted in Bath...for now
Yesterday I was in Bath for a meeting of the Bath and North East Somerset council Development Control Committee.  We have been campaigning with local residents and supporters from 'Response2Route' and Save Bathampton Meadows against council plans for the Bath Rapid Transit Scheme... Read More

11.15am, Better Government
John O'Connell
Improving social care
A report in this morning’s Telegraph outlines Ed Balls’ plans to recruit 200 social workers, aiming for specifically for teachers and lawyers to improve the profession in the wake of several scandals surrounding the deaths of children under the watch of Councils... Read More

11.00am, Burning Our Money
Time Aker
Non-job of the week
There are over 500 jobs in government this week, as you can see from the bar on the right... Read More

Daily Telegraph, Britain wants to pay for prison cells in Nigeria to clear our jails
The Mirror, Plan for British taxpayers to foot £3m bill for Nigerian jail
Daily Mail, The ONE MILLION people who haven't worked since 1997
Daily Express, UK TO BUILD £3M JAIL FOR 400...IN NIGERIA
Daily Express, IT'S ALL RIGHT FOR SOME! MPS GO ON AN 82-DAY HOLIDAY
Daily Mail, Britain 'to build £1m jail in Nigeria' for 400 prisoners serving sentences HERE
Sunrise Radio, TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace said that it was wrong for the Government to grant an effective amnesty to asylum cases due to the long waiting list
TalkSport, TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace said that the European Convention of Human Rights clashed with the British legal system, restricted the power of British voters and led to huge amounts of wasted money

Wednesday July 8

Blogs

4.45pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace
Sir Hugh Orde, a Jedi Knight in the service of the Sith
It's day two of Sir Hugh Orde's tenure as head of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), and already he's been causing quite a stir. Whilst he seems to have some good ideas, he has absolutely the wrong approach to getting them implemented... - Read More

Spiked, Let’s have a bonfire of the quangos 
Daily Mail, Gipsies given £60 to listen to advice on health and schools
Daily Express, £6M PLAN FAILS TO STOP RISE IN PREGNANT TEENS
Daily Express, GOLD-PLATED PERKS FOR POLICE BOSSES
Daily Express,  THE £77.50 PASSPORT
The Gazette, What do you make of the quangos spending heaps of public cash?
The Guardian, Every quango in Britain
MoneyMarketing, Commission for Employment & Skills backs Tory calls for QCDA to be scrapped
BBC South West News, TPA Grassroots Co-ordinator Tim Aker explained why the proposed park and ride will leave Bath's taxpayers out of pocket

Tuesday July 7

Blogs

5.00pm, Campaign
Susie Squire
Well done, Sir Roger & Co
Some of you may remember our involvement with the Independent Review Panel, set up by the Welsh Assembly, which was tasked with looking into AMs' expenses, headed by Sir Roger Jones. The review was established last summer, to deliver "a system of financial support fro Assembly Members that is fair and transparent and which represents value for money." ... - Read More

5.00pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy
Consultation over door mat ban
Nonsense to end all nonsense at Stoke on Trent City Council, as residents at council flats in the city will now be convening to discuss the ‘door mat’ ban with elected members... - Read More

Daily Mail, Edward Heathcoat Amory: Let's wield the Quango axe once and for all 
Third Sector, Cameron pledges to take on 'quango state' 
The Mirror, £20k probe into swings 
The Independent, Simon Carr: Unelected, yes, but very handy for passing the buck 
The Sun, David Wooding: You know when you've been quango'd 
The Guardian, Polly Toynbee: The clamour to cut public sector pay is based on myth
UTV, Culling the quangos (again)
The Herald, Whitehall hits back at attack on quangos
BBC Radio 4: Today Programme, Sir Hugh Orde, Chairman of ACPO, was asked if he agree with the TaxPayers' Alliance view on unsustainable police pensions (click to listen) 
BBC Radio Tees, TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallacer argued that cash-strapped police forces should not hand out massive bonuses to chief constables

On TV last night...

BBC Newsnight, TPA Campaign Manager Susie Squire was interviewed in a report on the size of the quango state (click to watch: 14 minutes in) 

BBC Newsnight, TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace debated quangos with Jeremy Paxman and Chris Humphries of the UKCES (click to watch: 19 minutes 20 seconds in) 

 

BBC Newsnight, TPA Research Director Matthew Sinclair proposed abolishing Regional Development Agencies to the Politics Pen experts (click to watch: 35 minutes 30 seconds in)

ITV Wales, TPA Campaign Manager Susie Squire welcomed the proposals to cut back on AMs’ expenses and steps towards greater transparency

Sky News, Jeff Randall Live: Susie Squire voiced concerns on the size and inaccountability of the quango state, saying it was time politicians had the courage to follow through on their promises to cut back on quangos

Monday July 6

Royston Weekly News, Council paid for 'care' of dead people
Daily Express, ROW OVER 'OBSCENE' BBC PENSIONS 
Daily Telegraph, Top BBC executives will enjoy pensions 'costing £26m'
Daily Express, BROWN'S £1,200 TAX BOMBSHELL
Daily Star, WIMBLEDONE
The Mirror, TAXI FOR THE BBC? THAT'LL BE £14M
Daily Telegraph, Top BBC executives will enjoy pensions 'costing £26m'
BBC News Online, Tories pledge to cut back quangos
BBC Radio 4, Tories pledge to cut back quangos
SunTalk, TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace was interviewed by John Gaunt about quangos BBC pensions and the licence fee
BBC Daily Politics, TaxPayers' Alliance research on quangos was used to spark a debate on David Cameron's quango proposals

Over the weekend,

The Register, Taxpayers pay for Silicon Valley bloggers' holiday
The Times, Treasury announces 'bonfire of quangos' to save taxpayer millions
The Sunday People, Gordon Brown's billions a year down the drain
Daily Express, FAMILIES face a £1,200-a-year tax bombshell after the next election if Labour win to meet Gordon Brown’s pledge to maintain lavish public spending levels.
Local Guardian, A waste of our money: Failed Putney Hospital cost £2.6m
ConservativeHome, Mark Wallace: It is time to abolish the Local Government Association

Friday July 3

Blogs

3.15pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
Revealed! The new Draft Code of Conduct for European Commissioners
It is unlikely that members of the public, or indeed media, will have seen this yet, as the proposals seem limited to floating around a Brussels intranet. The Policy Department for the Budgetary Affairs wing of the European Commission’s Internal Policies Directorate has come up with a 118 page document that looks set – potentially – to radically shake up the highest levels of the Commission... - Read More

3.10pm, Better Government
Ben Farrugia:
An agenda for educational improvement
Conservative thinking on education has taken on board all the efforts, mistakes and neglect of the past 12 years, and been informed by the many examples of what works and what doesn't. On Tuesday Michael Gove - Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families - laid out the broad thrust of their policy in a speech to the Royal Society of the Arts... - Read More

11.00am, Campaign
Emily Rand:
We're in the middle of a recession. Do councillors deserve a raise? 
According to This is Somerset, Councillors in North Somerset have generously voted to increase their own salaries by 30%, how thoughtful of them. The rest of the country is suffering through a severe recession, worried about keeping their jobs, and these people are giving themselves increases at their constituent’s expense... - Read More

Hinckley Times, MP Tredinnick's expenses ridiculed by Taxpayers Alliance
Burnley Citizen, Pendle Council paid for teenage criminal to stay in Burnley hotel
Daily Mail, Britain's tallest comedown: Iconic 'B of the Bang' sculpture is demolished
Belfast Newsletter, Stormont expenses U-turn welcomed

Last night...
BBC Wales Today, TPA Campaign Manager Susie Squire voiced concerns over the revelations that Welsh AMs and MPs had been paying thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to their parties through office rent
Dragon's Eye, Susie said taxpayers would be concerned to learn that their money had been used to bolster the coffers of political parties through AMs and MPs paying above market rate for their office rents. To watch the programme, click here

Thursday July 2

Blogs

5.50pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy:
Alton Towers trip for those who go to school

There was a time when wagging off school and taking sickies here, there and everywhere was seen as poor form, now actually going to school everyday in the way you’re supposed to is being viewed as an achievement and richly rewarded…by the taxpayer... - Read More

3.30pm, Campaign
Emily Rand:
Put a stop to the wasteful NHS bribes

Smokers in Dundee are now being paid to give up cigarettes as part of a NHS scheme.  Quitters now receive £12.50 towards their groceries each week in order to give them the encouragement they need. The taxpayer funded crusade against smokers continues... - Read More

11.45am, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
OECD Verdict On Brown's Fiscal Strategy

The OECD has just published its latest Economic Survey of the United Kingdom. And it's a pretty damning verdict on 12 years of Labour government... - Read More

11.00am, Better Government
Ben Farrugia:
Another business survey; more bad news for RDAs

However hard one trawls the web, it's hard to find an independent analysis of RDAs that gives them a  really good review. Journals dedicated to regional issues - a natural home for pro-RDA opinion one might think - struggle to present a case beyond "their better than nothing". Most studies settle with: "some might be doing ok, most could be done away with". The TPA's assessment, published last year (see here), was undoubtedly one of the most critical out there, but even the Government sponsored review, carried out by PwC, had to rely on 'projections of potential future benefits' to find anything positive to say... - Read More

Scottish Sun, Sick joke
Expressen (Sweden), Matthew Elliott: Choose democracy over prestige, Prime Minister Reinfeldt
Health Service Journal, Jon Restell: how to cope
BBC News Online, Party offices cost public £473k
Western Mail, AMs ride gravy train with £30.65-a-day meal deals
Express & Star, Fury at costly credit crunch conference
BBC Radio Wales, TPA Campaign Manager Susie Squire said many Welsh taxpayers would be concerned that AMs are paying inflated rents for office space to their local constituency offices. She called for greater transparency, and a full investigation in all cases where there had been suspicious use of taxpayers’ money.

Yesterday evening,

Look North, TPA Campaign Manager Susie Squire said that South Cave Parish Council needed to explain why their administrational costs were so high

Wednesday July 1

Blogs

2.15pm, Campaign
Tim Aker:
East Hertfordshire Independent Remuneration Panel outcome

Some months ago it was announced that two vacancies had arisen on the East Hertfordshire council Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP). Although only a consultative body, the role of an IRP is to recommend all the pay and perks councillors can get and, therefore, have considerable power and influence... - Read More

12.30pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
Nationalised Express

For regular passengers on the East Coast main line, the news that National Express has failed in its running of the line so badly that the Government has decided to seize control of it will come as no surprise. For the taxpayers who are now faced with yet more railway costs, though, the move is a worrying one... - Read More

12.00am, Burning Our Money
Tim Aker:
Non-job of the week

Publications Journalist
£32,169 - £36,912

With excellent knowledge of newspaper, magazine or online publishing and a proven track record of working as a professional journalist your job will be to research and write for Surrey Matters, our magazine for the 1.1 million residents of Surrey, Jigsaw, our staff magazine, and their respective online equivalents... - Read More

 

Daily Telegraph, Palace officials spent £250,000 renovating Princess Beatrice apartment
South Wales Echo, Assembly Members’ expenses claims unveiled
Daily Express, YOU SPEND £256,000 ON A SWANKY FLAT FOR PRINCESS BEATRICE
London Evening Standard, Princess Beatrice digs cost £250,000
BritainNews.net, How Royals blew Brit taxpayers' money
Local Government Chronicle, Eaton warning over pension costs
Glasgow Herald, MPs blast EU over ‘unacceptable’ budget errors
Daily Express, POLICE GIVE MUSLIMS IN CELLS COMPASSES TO PRAY TOWARDS MECCA
Daily Express, DUMPED MARTIN MADE A LORD 
Martin Salter MP, Parliamentary Tench Trip
Sky News, TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace was interviewed for the Breakfast Show about MPs' second jobs and urged full transparency
LBC, TPA Campaign Manager Susie Squire said that police budgets should not be spent on compasses for Muslim prisoners to find the direction of Mecca
BBC Radio Humberside, Susie Squire said that South Cave Parish Council had serious questions to answer about its budget and urged Parish Councils to be more transparent
BBC Radio Wales, TPA Campaign Manager Susie Squire took part in the lunchtime phone in, talking to listeners about MPs' second jobs and calling for a complete register of interests

Last night...
BBC Scotland, TPA Campaign Manager Susie Squire said it was wrong to bribe people to stop smoking

Tuesday June 30

Blogs

3.00pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
PAC, Man

The Public Accounts Committee at the Commons has today released a biting report, looking at the monumental scale of public waste in the European Union budget. Lest we forget, this is the fourteenth consecutive year in which the Court of Auditors has declined to sign off the books... - Read More

11.00am, Better Government
Ben Farrugia:
OECD urges bold cuts to public expenditure

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gave its strongest line on the  UK's fiscal problems yesterday, urging the Government to return to "credible" spending plans... - Read More

The Argus, Taxpayers outrage at West Sussex council fat cats
Daily Telegraph, BBC sends 407 staff to Glastonbury but does not broadcast full sets
Digital Spy, BBC criticised over Glastonbury 'junket'
Sky News, Glasto Fiasco: BBC Accused Of Staff 'Junket'
United Press International, BBC's Glastonbury expenses raises ire
Business Wire, British Expense Scandal Should be Lesson for U.S. Lawmakers
RedOrbit, BBC's Glastonbury expenses raises ire
The Sun, Princess's £250k flat refit... on taxpayers
Western Mail, Nine Welsh Tories and a £200-a-night hotel
Yorkshire Post, Big clear-up starts at Glastonbury as BBC accused over 400 staff 'junket' 
BBC Radio Three Counties, Susie Squire said that BBC expenditure on Glastonbury was excessive
BBC Radio Humberside, Susie discussed the number of staff the BBC sent to Glastonbury, calling it excessive and wasteful

Monday June 29

Blogs

2.30pm, Economics 101
Matthew Sinclair:
Public spending dominates the economy outside of the 'Greater South East'

In 2007-08, 41.1% of the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was public spending.  There had been a significant rise since spending bottomed out in 1999.  But, that is nothing compared to what is projected to happen over the next few years... - Read More

9.00am, Campaign
Tim Aker:
Councils in the Trough

Two stories caught my eye this morning that should send taxpayers' blood boiling.  First into the trough was Kent County Council who pushed up their allowances by a shocking 8% last week! - Read More

Sunday Telegraph, Revealed: MPs' pay from second jobs
Sideswipe, A total quack-up
Scotsman, MPs braced as second job earnings to be revealed
Daily Star, JOB LOT OF CASH FOR MPS
Daily Express, MOONLIGHTING MP'S EARN AN EXTRA £200K PER YEAR
The Sun, BBC sends 405 staff to Glasto
Western Mail, Log on and discover what expenses your AM claimed
Guido Fawkes, Keen’s Squatters are Angry Taxpayers
ConservativeHome, Mark Wallace: Councils must resist the demands of local NHS nanny-staters which would have the effect of banning Popeye for under-18s

Over the weekend,

Mail on Sunday, 'Bloated' Beeb sends 400 employees to cover Glastonbury despite hard economic times
Sunday Mercury, Midland police forces pay out £1 million in tribunal cases
The Mirror, BBC bosses spent almost £400k of tax payers' money on luxuries
Daily Express, ANGER AS BBC CHIEF DEFENDS EXPENSES BILL
Belfast Newsletter, Assembly 'trying to cover up expenses'
Daily Express: LABOUR'S AIR TAX HIKES PRICE US OUT OF THE SKIES