By Policy Analyst, Jeremy Hutton. When you first think of foreign aid, you probably think of one of two things. The first is saving lives through things like mosquito nets, building wells and providing disaster relief. The alternative thought might be one of corruption, waste, and crooked NGOs. But whether you are... Read more...
By Jeremy Hutton, Policy Analyst Last week the prime minister proudly pledged to “bring shipbuilding back to the UK.” This of course came as something of a surprise, as all of Britain’s current and future warships are British-built anyway. Nevertheless, underpinning this was the announcement that Babcock International had been... Read more...
By Mungo Fenwick, Volunteer The Brexit drama in Westminster over the last few weeks has overshadowed an otherwise very important moment for taxpayers. The Spending Plan was a major statement made by the Chancellor, who declared that the Conservative government were ‘turning the page on austerity’. Sajid Javid outlined his... Read more...
By Bradley Goodwin, Volunteer In the current climate, some socialists would love you to think that they’re the only ones who care about our planet. Fanatical left-wing campaigners, like Extinction Rebellion, scream at us about the need to stop everyday activities like driving and eating meat. Then there’s the Green... Read more...
John O'Connell writes for CapX So now we know for sure. Thanks to Grant Shapps, Westminster’s biggest open secret is finally out there. HS2 is actually going to cost considerably more than we were told four years ago. For us at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, this is a bittersweet moment. It’s... Read more...
By Bradley Goodwin, volunteer. For nearly 200 years, thanks to Sir Robert Peel, British law and order has been defined by the ‘bobby on the beat’. As Peel makes clear, police should prevent crime and disorder by maintaining public support, by “absolutely impartial service to the law” and the “offering... Read more...
By Charles Amos, Local Coordinator for Sussex High streets up and down the country are experiencing difficult times and have been for a while now. If we’re being honest, one of the main reasons for this is the increase in online shopping. Many consumers have welcomed its advantages, at the... Read more...
By Oliver Pike, Volunteer Bacon is the king of breakfast foods and as such is honoured with International Bacon Day once a year. That’s today by the way! And although bacon is near universally popular (it has been often dubbed a ‘gateway meat’ by vegetarians) the public health lobby is... Read more...
John O'Connell writes for CapX Freedom is underappreciated in the UK. As CapX readers well know, free markets and free people have made the whole world richer and more equal, and have helped bring freedom of speech and freedom of choice to billions. Everywhere from the United States to Hong... Read more...
This guest blog is written by Bethany Wright, a teacher of English Literature and Divinities at the West London Free School. When the coalition government entered office in 2010, they found an education system in free fall. Standards had slipped and the UK was falling down international league tables, it... Read more...
To find out more about the Stand Against Socialism (SAS) campaign, click here By Jeremy Hutton, Policy Analyst. Over past decades travelling the world has become easier than ever, a triumph of technology and free markets. As a result, the amount of trips that Britons are taking each year... Read more...
By Dougal Burrowes, Volunteer Last week marked a century of council housing, as introduced in the Addison Act 1919. It paved the way for funds for local councils to build 500,000 houses in three years. Now 100 years later and Britain needs 250,000 built every year just to keep up... Read more...
By Michael Ward, Volunteer This July, the UK saw record breaking peaks in temperature all around the country. Britons eager to enjoy the tropical heat flocked to the beach, donning their umbrella hats, and of course tucking into a cone of cool ice cream. But there’s a bitter taste on... Read more...
To find out more about the Stand Against Socialism (SAS) campaign, click here By Dougal Burrowes, Volunteer The last few days have been big for big tech; Facebook, Alphabet (Google) and Twitter have all released their financial results from the second quarter. Since last year, Facebook’s weekly usage has increased... Read more...
1. Stamp duty land tax It is encouraging to see that the new prime minister has considered raising the threshold for paying stamp duty as well as lowering the top rate. However, he should go further and abolish stamp duty completely. There is a housing crisis in this country, with... Read more...
By Jeremy Hutton, Policy Analyst When man first walked on the moon 50 years ago this week, the sheer scale of the challenge of propelling a rocket into space with a handful of astronauts took the full effort of the state. It was a challenge not many countries could financially... Read more...
To find out more about the Stand Against Socialism (SAS) campaign, click here By Thomas Young, Volunteer In the latest of many election surprises in the past year, Greece has elected a new majority centre-right government for the first time in a decade. The New Democracy party, now led by... Read more...
To find out more about the Stand Against Socialism (SAS) campaign, click here By Olivia Lever, Volunteer The most common argument I hear from left wing commentators about why socialism is such a grand idea is that Scandinavia is a socialist utopia. However, after attending an event at the Institute... Read more...
By Chloe Westley, Campaign Manager I love summertime in Britain. Tesco running out of bags of ice, the smell of BBQs that get used once or twice a year, long summer evenings, cricket, Love Island (yes, guilty) and everyone taking a break from complaining about how cold it is, to... Read more...
To find out more about the Stand Against Socialism (SAS) campaign, click here by Harry Fone, Grassroots Campaign ManagerOver the years socialist countries have produced some truly abysmal products. When workers are stripped of economic incentives market signals are severely distorted. This blog highlights some of the worst goods... Read more...
To find out more about the Stand Against Socialism (SAS) campaign, click here Mondays can be hard. To help you get through the week ahead, we've put together a list of inspirational quotes from our socialist heroes around the globe. “No mercy for these enemies of the people, the enemies... Read more...
By Scott Simmonds, Researcher New figures released today show that business rates collected last year increased by over £850 million to £25.3 billion, meaning small firms are still doing much of the heavy lifting in raising cash for local and national government. So why is that a cause for concern? ... Read more...