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TayPayers’ Alliance campaigner Robert Oxley said: ‘It makes a mockery of the law to let criminals off lightly just so that they can go and watch the Magpies at home.
Amending the order to allow the defendants to spend the evening at St James’ Park is a waste of corut time and taxpayers’ money.
‘It doesn’t matter how important the game is, the law isn’t there to fit round the social lives of criminals.’
Open Market.org: US, other countries threaten to retaliate against EU on airline emissions ‘taxes’
A 2009 study by Matt Sinclair of the UK’s Taxpayers’ Alliance estimated that from its introduction in 2005 through 2008, the EU’s carbon trading scheme has cost European consumers €93 billion.
Mail Online: HMRC accused of ‘giving up’ as £27bn is simply written off by ‘inept’ taxman
Britain’s tax collectors have written off £27.4billion over the past five years, a report revealed yesterday.
It accuses HM Revenue and Customs of ‘giving up’ on this massive figure owed on all type of taxes, from National Insurance to income tax.
The amount is the equivalent of about £1,000 for every family in the country.
The report, from campaign group the Taxpayers’ Alliance – entitled ‘How the taxman loses billions every year’ – says the amount of money written off between 2006/07 and 2010/11 is ‘ludicrous’.
Emma Boon, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘It looks distinctly like the Department of Health is quietly trying to move staff from soon-to-be-abolished quangos into this new outfit.
‘Scrapping dozens of unaccountable quangos is key to getting better value for taxpayers’ money – which is crucial at a time when budgets are tight everywhere.
‘Unfortunately this is yet further evidence that the promised bonfire of the quangos has been dampened into a smouldering heap by the minority who are determined to maintain the status quo.’
Tech Eye.net: Conservative MP rallies for iPads on expenses
The TaxPayers’ Alliance fiercely disagreed with Hart. Spokesperson Emma Boon told TechEye “An iPad is an optional extra and MPs can pay for it themselves”.
“There is absolutely no justification for an MP asking taxpayers to pay for this gadget,” Boon continued, “especially at a time when money is tight and very necessary spending cuts are being made.”
“An iPad is a premium product and that comes with a premium price-tag; it’s the latest toy. There is no function that it performs that an MP needs that cannot be fulfilled by a reasonably priced laptop or a phone with e-mail or similar.”
Boon and the TaxPayers’ Alliance believe MPs need to think of what is best value for the taxpayers. “But,” she said, “it seems that some are still thinking about what they can squeeze out of the system.”
BBC News: EU launches youth employment plan
Critics say the initiative will not benefit the UK.
“Britain’s problem with chronic youth unemployment developed before the economy got in trouble and has now become a crisis,” said Matthew Sinclair from the Taxpayers’ Alliance in response to the announcement.
“The solutions are here in Britain with reforms to the education system and lower taxes to help businesses grow, not the enormous European Social Fund, which soaks up billions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money and is chronically misspent.”
