If I were running a council which needed to get its finances in order, spending £350,000 on a referendum asking residents’ permission to take more of their money would not be top of my to-do list. Remarkably this is precisely what Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson, wants to do. He is proposing... Read more...
The treatment of pensioners’ income is often seen as one of the, if not the biggest headache in a merger of national insurance and income tax. As far as our proposals are concerned however, any problems are explanatory and could be politically painless with a comprehensive information campaign. Under the... Read more...
On Wednesday night (26 October) our local team in Hammersmith, which is being coordinated by local resident Mark, held their first get together to discuss campaigning in their area. These meetings are vitally important as we look to take our campaign across the country. The work we do from HQ... Read more...
The Taxpayers Protection Alliance in America released a damning report last week looking at the World Health Organization's (WHO) sub-agency that monitors tobacco policy. The report found that it is "failing taxpayers around the world and harming its own effort to reduce tobacco use". Naturally, they found wasteful spending aplenty too -... Read more...
This morning’s papers show what we have known for quite a long time: there are serious problems within the health service. The headlines alone make grim reading: Pointless treatments cost NHS £2bn a year – Times Ambulances wait nine hours outside A&E amid 'epidemic' of delays – Telegraph NHS trust... Read more...
On Wednesday Lord Ashton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport told a Lords debate that BBC Studios would not have to carry out “full named disclosure”. This is unfortunately a step backwards for transparency, considering there are still uncertainties over the actual competitiveness of programme production... Read more...
Today the National Audit Office published its findings from its investigation into the Department for Transport’s grant of £30 million towards the construction of the Garden Bridge. It turns out that more than £20m of public money may have potentially been wasted. The controversial project requires £30m contributions from the... Read more...
Heading to Conservative Party Conference this year? Join us, alongside the IEA and the Free Enterprise Group, at our Think Tent for a variety of events with some fantastic speakers and panels. Take a look at the full line-up of events here Read more...
Today the Mayor of London announced a formal inquiry into the controversial Garden Bridge, which requires £60m of taxpayer’s money to meet its £185m total budget. The project has already had significant problems with questions over the transparency of the procurement process, planning hurdles and the inability to raise the... Read more...
Yesterday I debated the United Kingdom's approach to foreign aid on the BBC Radio 4 PM programme against Sir Desmond Swayne, a former Minister of State in the Department of International Development (DfID). There's a link to the programme at the bottom of this page but I thought I'd also... Read more...
Yesterday the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts published the latest report on the preparations for the High Speed 2 rail project. It demonstrates that Parliament and the public are still in the dark about crucial details – not least when the railway will open and how much it... Read more...
Reacting to the story that Katrina Percy is to be moved into a new job, with less responsibility, but on the same pay, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance has said: "No one begrudges paying Trust bosses well for the tough jobs that they do but when failures... Read more...
Politicians on the left often talk about how happy people are to pay taxes. Half of voters have even said that they would be happy to pay more tax if it went to the NHS. Even after discounting for virtue signalling, figures, suggest this not the case. Today the Times... Read more...
New research from the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) reveals that the total amount of tax paid by the average household increased by 2.7 per cent in 2014-2015 on the previous year. Politicians of all stripes lament the high cost of living in the UK yet fail to address one of the major... Read more...
Further spending reduction plans in the NHS have been reported today as NHS England, which needs to find £22bn in efficiency savings by 2020-21, said reorganising local services is essential to improve patient care. The draft sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) include proposals for ward closures, cuts in bed numbers... Read more...
For some, the National Health Service is more than just a healthcare system - it is a sacred cow moulded in our national identity. As a consequence there is precious little debate about how it functions or how it is funded. And the lack of such debate and consequential reform... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) is today announcing that Jonathan Isaby, the TPA’s serving Chief Executive, is leaving to take up the post of Editor of the soon-to-be launched BrexitCentral.com. Taking his place as Chief Executive of the TPA will be John O’Connell, who has been with the TPA since 2009. As... Read more...
Last week a new government initiative, the Shale Wealth Fund, was announced in a bid to get fracking firmly back on the UK energy agenda. The project, unveiled by Theresa May, is estimated to be worth around £1 billion of funding, which will initially consist of up to 10 per... Read more...
Last year our Public Sector Rich List revealed the staggering pay packets received by some NHS dentists. 30 dentists received more than £300,000 from the NHS, 11 more than £400,000 and five more than £500,000. Those who earned more than £500,000 received an average of £690,572 It’s hard to believe... Read more...
Our Chief Executive, Jonathan Isaby, has a letter in The Times today: Sir, James Sproule, of the Institute of Directors, and David Blanchflower make sensible suggestions for tax changes (“Hammond under pressure to slash VAT and delay tax”, Aug 5). A VAT cut would reduce prices for consumers while increased... Read more...
Guido Fawkes reports that Southwark Council have spent £15,400 on a new logo which is almost indistinguishable from the old one. Despite complaining about funding cuts, the council found £6,819 for designing the new logo and a further £8,581 to spend on implementation. Justifying the project, the ‘Branding Refresh’ report claims... Read more...
An Investigation by the BBC has revealed that a charity receiving taxpayers’ money has links to a strange group which has been likened to a cult. Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) runs charity projects in Africa with programmes ranging from farming to health to education. However, the investigation... Read more...
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had previously decided that only BBC staff earning over £450,000 should have their salaries published, a decision that we at the TaxPayers' Alliance were quick to condemn as not going far enough. However yesterday a report by the DCMS Committee suggested that... Read more...
The “triple lock” promise – that pensions will always rise by whichever is higher out of inflation, earnings growth or 2.5 per cent – made by the Conservatives before the 2010 election was irresponsibly profligate. In 2015 a report published by the Government Actuary Department estimated that the pension triple lock would... Read more...