by Duncan Simpson, Policy Analyst The terrorist chic of the Che Guevara t-shirt has had remarkable staying power. If you put his name into eBay, you get a staggering 36,000 results. Yet leading figures on the left and their media cheerleaders have long excused him. This perceived trendiness is pernicious.... Read more...
It’s that time of year again: the bills are going up. April has arrived and brought with it a flood of eye-watering rises, not least the calls to cough up yet more council tax. Across England, the typical household is facing a nasty 4.7 per cent rise. Council leaders are... Read more...
By Jeremy Hutton, Policy Analyst The TaxPayers’ Alliance released its first Town Hall Rich List in 2007. Since then we have published it 12 times covering 13 years up to the present. When we first compiled the Rich List the data was compiled via Freedom of Information requests. This garnered... Read more...
by Ben Ramanauskas, Policy Analyst The Soft Drinks Industry Levy, more commonly referred to as the sugar tax, came into force one year ago today. Although it’s only been in force for one year, let’s have a look at its impact so far and why sugar taxes are a bad... Read more...
by Chloe Westley, Campaign ManagerThe freedom to question and criticise the government is essential for any free and democratic society. Journalists and ordinary citizens should absolutely have the right to hold those in elected office accountable for their actions. In the United Kingdom, the media and journalists are free to... Read more...
by Ben Ramanauskas, Policy AnalystToday marks April Fools’ Day. We all know the drill: unfunny pranks played on unsuspecting and irritated victims. Perhaps this is why, on this day in 1965, corporation tax was put into effect. It was believed at the time by the tax consultant John Chown that,... Read more...
by Jeremy Hutton, Policy AnalystOn Monday, we launched the first paper in our new series on foreign aid - First aid: Fixing international development. Massive thanks to Priti Patel, former aid secretary, who joined us for the launch and gave us her insights. While government is already picking up many... Read more...
By Ben Ramanauskas, Policy Analyst With punters pouring into pubs today for St Patrick’s Day, let’s talk about Ireland. It has pulled off one of the most impressive economic u-turns in recent memory. The Republic was hit particularly hard by the global financial crisis and subsequently fell into recession. It... Read more...
UPDATE: Higher probate fees are a tax, admits the government after charge increase for grieving families was introduced to generate an extra £155 million a year by Ben Ramanauskas, Policy AnalystUnder the innocuous sounding ‘Non-Contentious Probate (Fees Order)’, the government looks sets to push ahead with its plans to hike the... Read more...
By Ben Ramanauskas, Policy Analyst After the annual dog show, Crufts, it’s clear that the UK is a nation of animal lovers. According to the PDSA, in their appropriately named “Paw” report, 49 per cent of UK adults own a pet. This breaks down to 11.1 million cats, 8.9 million... Read more...
by James Middleton, TPA intern Socialism is on the rise. From Plymouth to Orkney, young people clamour for greater state intervention in their lives, higher taxes and even higher spending. Capitalism, we are expected to believe, is a stale economic model, well past its expiry date. Free marketeers are derided as... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance hosted a panel discussion on local authorities’ spending on commercial property and investments on Tuesday 26th. The discussion, and subsequent Q&A, was wide ranging, and included the councillors’ experience of commercial property and other investments, the moral hazard for taxpayers that this may create, and the distortionary... Read more...