On Friday I went up to the University of East Anglia to take part in a Question Time event hosted by the University of East Anglia Conservatives which was an open event to all students. With a packed room – even on Halloween – the audience fired very challenging questions at us.
It gave me a chance to spell out current TPA research and campaigns in a response to a question on EU regulation. Costing British businesses around £150 billion a year, it clearly has a damaging effect on business when we need British business at its best, to grow, employ and prosper for us all. Below you can see the reactions to some of the government waste stories we've racked up here at the TPA. There was unanimous disgust in the room when they were told about Moray Council's 'street football coordinator'.
The question of the night was a bolt from the blue, and a great one at that. The issue was the FairTax, an idea in America to replace the income tax with a national sales tax. It made for great debate and disagreements on the panel. The main point of divergence being over whether the government should tax work, with the government automatically withdrawing tax from our pay cheques.
In all it was an interesting evening, if a late one for me on the last train home, and excellent seeing students embracing the low tax principles of the TPA.