by David Campbell Bannerman, Chairman of The Freedom Association, Conservative MEP 2009-19 and inventor of railway franchising A few weeks ago, vaccine heroine Dame Kate Bingham criticised Whitehall for “groupthink” and a “devastating lack of skills and experience in science, industry and manufacturing”. The TaxPayers’ Alliance agreed, arguing in the... Read more...
By Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager You’d be forgiven for not knowing, but last week was Tax Administration and Maintenance Day. On this auspicious occasion, tax officials publish a load of in depth policy updates. After the fanfare of the Budget, this is the day for under-the-radar adjustments. This... Read more...
by Darwin Friend, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance Today the National Audit Office released a report on the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, revealing that a massive £4.9 billion from the scheme was accessed fraudulently. That’s more than you’d need to take a penny off income tax. But... Read more...
By Darwin Friend, policy analyst Subsidies - or using taxpayers’ money to support certain sectors, businesses or activities - are like any other form of government spending. But analysis from the TaxPayers’ Alliance has found that 64 per cent of subsidies handed out by the government wouldn't have to... Read more...
by Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager Black Friday in 2021 is a very different occasion from the high street mega sales we saw in years past. A run on the local Argos has been superseded by a mammoth internet shopping session, loading up our online carts with all manner... Read more...
By Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance The government’s decision to scrap the eastern leg of High Speed Two may not have been an easy one, but the logic behind it was spot on. As secretary of state Grant Shapps laid out in his address to the... Read more...
By Sara Rainwater, operations director I hate insurance premium tax (IPT) almost as much as I hate stamp duty land tax (see my previous rant about that one here). I consider myself a responsible adult. Like the vast majority of the population, I like to play by the... Read more...
By Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager One unsung hero of the Christmas season is television. Movie marathons, heartstring-tugging adverts, the Queen’s Speech, Christmas specials of your favourite shows - all of these things add to those festive feelings. Yet as we settle down in the evenings and switch on... Read more...
By Scott Simmonds, researcher After the fallout of the Owen Patterson case, MPs' second jobs have become a topic of heated debate, with the idea of some MPs topping up their already generous salary causing outrage. Of course, few would disagree with the principle of MPs having ‘real... Read more...
By Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance As COP26 rolls on, leaders and climate experts from around the world have discussed a myriad of ways to cut carbon emissions. One much-touted method in this country is to replace gas boilers in our homes with air or ground... Read more...
By Scott Simmonds, researcher Last week’s budget left many taxpayers speechless. With the Office of Budget Responsibility showing public sector net borrowing will reach £319.9 billion in 2020-21 (pushing public sector net debt to 94.9 per cent), many of us were bewildered at the scale of spending plans. Government departments... Read more...
by Duncan Simpson, research director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance Wednesday’s Budget was certainly a mixed bag for taxpayers. While we welcome the shake up of alcohol duties and business rates, it was also clear that the chancellor’s purse strings are not going to close for some time. But ahead... Read more...
By John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance Taxpayers pay a small fortune for the welfare system. The benefits system cost a whopping £249 billion last year, with the department that administers welfare (via Jobcentre Plus) and pensions employing around 80,000 people. Through universal credit, it provides a safety... Read more...
By Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance Last week, my colleague Scott Simmonds and I embarked on a whistlestop tour of the country to gauge the mood of the public ahead of next week’s Budget and the Spending Review. Covering over 600 miles in three days, we... Read more...
By Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager Today is National Dessert Day - a day to celebrate all kinds of wonderful food. Cream cakes! Ice cream! Chocolate puddings! All the things the government says we aren’t supposed to eat... That list of course is growing, and has been under... Read more...
It’s almost the end of the party conference season. For a few weeks every year, politicos descend on exhibition venues somewhere outside London and spend days on end watching speeches and debating policies. The same goes for us at TaxPayers’ Alliance. Whether it's responding to the big speech from... Read more...
It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that motorists are facing long queues at petrol stations, amid panic buying and reports of fuel shortages across the country. With this chaos at the pumps, should petrol stations be hiking prices to curb demand and preserve supply? YES: Harry Fone, TPA grassroots campaign... Read more...
By Darwin Friend, policy analyst Prudence with taxpayers’ money should always be at the forefront of decision making by officials in local authorities. Yet this is often not the case. From six-figure pay packets for staff to millions lost on council owned energy companies, the wastage of public money... Read more...
by Danielle Boxall, media campaign manager The TaxPayers’ Alliance has written extensively on the plight of struggling sectors, in particular the hospitality industry, as the country has begun to emerge from the pandemic. According to the latest retail stats from Office for National Statistics (ONS), it seems that the... Read more...
Boris Johnson’s plans to raise national insurance contributions to pay for the NHS and social care have left us with many unanswered questions. One of the biggest mysteries is how did the Conservative party become the party of endless Tory tax rises? It’s certainly been a damascene conversion for... Read more...
This week may see the announcement of a rise in national insurance, as part of the PM’s plan to fix social care. It’s fair to say the idea has gone down like a cup of cold sick. Many have pointed out this tax hike on working people would fly... Read more...
by Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published its annual report for 2020-21 and it raises interesting questions when it comes to grants funded by taxpayers’ money. Under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006, ministers are permitted to “give... Read more...
by Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager The TPA has a long history of calling out wasteful spending by councils, particularly when it comes to staff pay and overly generous exit packages. Through our Town Hall Rich List series, we’ve highlighted some of the grotesque remuneration paid to senior staff... Read more...
by Jonathan Eida The question of whether we choose to maintain personal responsibility or whether our lives are ruled by a central authority has taken many forms in recent times. But as today is Junk Food Day, it’s worth talking about one particular battle. Freedom and personal responsibility go hand... Read more...