The British economic downturn did not start with the fallout of the credit crunch. The foundation was laid in 1997, when Labour took power and started to carry out its ambitious programme. The economic growth between 1992 and 1995 was very high. Since 1997 economic growth has never again... Read more...
Tip of the iceberg We've updated BOM's estimate of the Real National Debt. That's the total debt taxpayers are actually committed to paying, as opposed to the much smaller figure Brown admits to in the official statistics. But before we start, and just for fun, let's remind... Read more...
Sometimes it's a wonder anyone bothers to vote these days. Why can't politicians stand up for what they believe in, and give it to us straight? A classic example of this is today's FT report on George Osborne's speech later today on the principles of tax reform. Mr Osborne... Read more...
Today's FT reports: UK companies face having to add billions of pounds to their pensions liabilities under plans to be unveiled by the regulator to force them to use more realistic projections of how long workers will live after they retire. The standard the Pensions Regulator is to propose next... Read more...
Another example of ludicrous managerial incompetence. Why on Earth should we trust these people with children's education, our healthcare and our money? "Bungling Whitehall officials got their Newcastles mixed up and gave £2.7 million meant for the North East city to its namesake in the Potteries. Newcastle-under-Lyme, population 74,000, was... Read more...
This time it is the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics arguing that the middle class are securing all the best school places. Is it just me or have there been a lot of these studies? There seems to be one almost every fortnight. They... Read more...
Who reading this can say they’ve had a 34% pay increase this year, or could expect one next year? If you’re the leader of Bournemouth Council, you can because you just voted for it. The decision by Bournemouth Council’s cabinet to increase their pay takes the leader’s salary to £36,000... Read more...
How hard can it be? By any normal standards it beggars belief: following the classic schoolboy geography howler the hopeless Department for Communities and Local Government has given a £2.7m grant intended for Newcastle on Tyne to Newcastle-under-Lyne instead. The two being a mere 186 miles apart. ... Read more...
Today’s The Sentinel revealed a big central Government blunder that saw Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council receiving the grant meant for Newcastle-Upon-Tyne! Newcastle-Under-Lyme, with a population of just 73,944 compared to the larger city’s 259,536, received a whopping £2.5million grant and seemingly didn’t question it despite the fact it should have... Read more...
Today’s non-job of the week is a tale of two job adverts. The first is our non-job of the week, yet another example of misused and misplaced scarce resources. The next is a job within a charity which you will read about later. But first, reading these non-jobs every... Read more...
"Schoolchildren will be taken to the opera and theatre under plans to offer all teenagers at least five hours of culture a week." Whether or not an hour of culture a week, as proposed by Andy Burnham and Ed Balls, is really a good idea for students is a question... Read more...
Peter Franklin argues against the dynamic case for tax cuts, suggesting that if there is a Laffer Curve we are on the wrong side of it to get increased revenue when we cut taxes. What needs to be remembered about the Laffer Curve is that it is an abstraction... Read more...
You may recall that back in December we singled out publicity budgets as one area of council spending packed with savings just waiting to be made. The average council spends almost £1 million on publicity, with huge amounts going on local newspaper adverts and those glossy propaganda newsletters that everyone... Read more...
At least they're upfront about it Dole Scroungers is based in sunny Brighton. It campaigns for better welfare entitlements and gives advice on how to extract more cash from taxpayers. Less than an hour from London, full of pink pounds and posh houses, you might think Brighton... Read more...
The Times reports that the accountancy firm Grant Thornton and a host of other organisations such as the AA, Chambers of Commerce and Freight Transport Association have called for a planned rise in fuel duty in the Budget to be scrapped. We couldn't agree more. Our report The case... Read more...
Today's Times reports that Alistair Darling may re-think his plans to tax non-doms: The Treasury is understood to be looking at possible concessions after a wave of protests raised fears of an exodus of wealth-creating foreigners from the City. Officials were examining the detail of the proposals and looking at... Read more...
The BBC reports that the NHS has spent £180 million compensating patients wrongly charged for long-term care: "Patients charged for long-term nursing and social care from 1996 to 2004 have been able to have their cases reviewed if they feel they were overcharged. This has led to over 13,000 claims... Read more...
Processing those Gershon efficiency audits News today that Brown's Gershon... ahem... efficiency programme has generated yet another additional cost. This time it's the £432m paid to 7,717 civil servants made redundant under the plan. Most chokingly for taxpayers, the mandarin in charge, John Oughton, himself got a... Read more...
Well, who on Earth didn't see this coming? "The Treasury is expecting to raise an extra £800 million a year by 2010 from a £30,000 annual tax on wealthy non-doms, as part of an effort to cut public sector borrowing. But the study warned that the non-dom plan will cost... Read more...
Over the past two weeks, you know how you can easily contribute to the TPA campaign from your home. You can research into news stories to find anything for us to campaign on relevant to our crusade for lower taxes and better government. You can follow this up with letters... Read more...
Today's Telegraph gives a very welcome report that the Conservatives may not match Labour's spending plans beyond 2010-11: David Cameron is prepared to drop his pledge to match Labour's spending increases after the next election to pave the way for tax cuts under a Conservative government, The Daily Telegraph can... Read more...
The Telegraph reports on an increasing number of people leaving hospital malnourished: "The number of patients leaving hospital malnourished has almost doubled in a decade, with one in five now affected, experts said yesterday. Some 140,000 people are discharged from hospital while underweight every year, and most are never diagnosed... Read more...
Another £100bn added to the debt millstone Yesterday the Office for National Statistics formally moved the Crock onto the public sector balance sheet. So for the first time we have official recognition that the bulk of its debt is hanging round taxpayers' necks. The ONS hasn't yet crunched the... Read more...
From today's FT: Digby Jones, the trade and investment minister, has warned that plans for a tax crackdown on non-domiciled foreigners living in the UK threaten London’s role as a world finance centre... Lord Jones said the tax changes made it harder for him to sell Britain as a destination... Read more...