Troubles within the Royal Mail roll on, with a national postal strike likely in the near future. This adds to the disruption still being felt after recent industrial action, which has lead to serious delivery problems across the country; millions of items of mail have yet to be delivered.Unions are... Read more...
The Left Foot Forward blog has a post which purports to rebut TPA Chief Executive Matthew Elliott's arguments on cap and trade. Matthew is reported first as saying that British climate change policies, principally the emissions trading and renewables subsidy arrangements lumped together in the current US cap and trade... Read more...
Yesterday at the Conservative party conference, Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers heavily criticised the use of speed cameras as a means to increase road safety. In fact the very premise that speed cameras were the optimum way to increase road safety was questioned, and Villiers pledged that a future Conservative... Read more...
Mending Britain’s public finances will be the most important issue in the run up to the general election. In fact, it will be the most important issue for years to come. “Tough choices”, “difficult decisions”, however one phrases it the enormous public debt will have to be tackled. We've heard... Read more...
Conference season is a time for debate and discussion. Groups want to have their say and lay out their stall. Which is fine, as long as that stall isn't at the taxpayers' expense. Yet last years conference's were so overwhelmed by quangos and public bodies that it was easy to... Read more...
In 1999 New York began an educational experiment. New schools, not run by the city but still funded by taxpayers, opened across the five boroughs. Set up in the main by groups of parents, charities or not-for-profit educational outfits (although a few were set up by for-profit organisations) some of... Read more...
The Evening Standard front pages today that all eight of London's Labour councils are to freeze council tax in their forthcoming budgets. This is undoubtedly good news, and sets the stage for some welcome inter-party competition over low taxes. The gold standard in London has for the last three... Read more...
When supporter Russell Booth heard of local protests against bonuses for Staffordshire Moorlands Council officers, he went along to join the crowds and represent the TPA on this prominent local issue. Armed with a homemade TaxPayers’ Alliance banner, he took to the streets along with more than 50 others... Read more...
As part of our ongoing campaign to take the TPA's message direct to politicians, the team will be in Manchester next week to campaign at the Tory Party Conference. We'll be holding four events of our own, speaking at seven events organised by other groups and running a stall where... Read more...
It looks like politicians have found yet another way that they can use climate change to justify new charges on motorists. This time it’s a green charge on parking, as Richmond-upon- Thames council becomes the first local authority in the world to set parking charges for drivers based upon their... Read more...
Evidence from the United States suggests that the car scrappage scheme might just have caused people to bring forward their purchases a little, and done little for the industry in even the quite short term. Megan McArdle writes that: Cash for Clunkers moved a bunch of auto sales forward,... Read more...
An old idea explained again Mr Cameron is reportedly thinking about rescinding the planned tax rise for those earning over £150,000 pa.Good. And let us hope his thinking doesn't take too long, because the planned new 50p tax rate will almost certainly cost the government money.Why?Well, it's a textbook example... Read more...
When the Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust was awarded Foundation status it must have brought a smile to the twelve managers who, contrary to the national trend, have enjoyed a salary increase of over 30% as a result. According to the Express & Star the combined salaries of... Read more...
It's reported today that Manchester City Council have spent £8,000 on producing booklets telling over 50s how to have sex. This extraordinary and misguided pamphlet includes what can only be described as graphic pictures and raunchy tips to spice up your sex life. Naturally, my first objection is to... Read more...
This issue, which we commented on in our last major paper on green taxes, really shouldn't surprise anyone: "Our energy footprint has decreased over the last few decades and that's largely because we've exported our industry," he said. Developing countries now made the goods that Britain buys, he added." The BBC... Read more...
So, with much fanfare (and a bill of £59m so far) the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom opens today. The media are reporting widely that this is the supreme court of appeal for British legal cases. But it isn't. It's bad enough that the project of housing the... Read more...
Sandwell Council have reached new levels of patronising, creating a cartoon family to teach us plebs how to save money – and all without a shade of irony! If you were one of the minds behind The Simpsons, you might initially feel a little put-out by the unashamed rip-off... Read more...
In the new Euro Health Consumer Index 2009 (PDF), the UK comes a middling 14th despite having a relatively high income. All of the countries that score below us are significantly poorer. The best performing country is the Netherlands, which has become the first country to top the list for... Read more...
Cllr Gavin Webb of Stoke-on-Trent City Council was shot down in flames by his colleagues when he dared to propose that it could be a useful exercise for the TPA to go through the books (free-of-charge!) and suggest where fat might be trimmed. Undeterred by their frosty reception, he continues to... Read more...
Following the publication of the inquest verdict and the appalling details of the torment that Fiona Pilkington and her family went through without help from the Police, the Temporary Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police said he was "extremely sorry" for the abject failure of his force. And "sorry", it... Read more...
The ONS have released yet more interesting numbers today. Figures for Local Authority maintained schools, academies and City Technology Colleges (CTCs) show that the number of full-time equivalent teachers has crept up by just over 1,000 to 442,700 between January 2008 and January 2009. However, the number of teaching assistants... Read more...
Few things are as complex as the organisational structure of the Ministry of Defence. A true organogram of the department would probably need to use a fourth dimension. But a close rival in complexitiy must be the mechanisms for funding the state schools system. The Department for Children, Schools and... Read more...
The Freedom of Information Act is an incredibly useful piece of legislation. As long as questions are framed clearly and concisely, the public has the ability to obtain information that is unavailable elsewhere. In responding to a request, the public sector organisation has a duty to provide accurate information.... Read more...
What distinguishes an 'arms length' non-departmental public body - funded mostly by the taxpayer - from a Government created charity funded almost entirely by the taxpayer? There are, of course, any number of constitutional and financial differences between a public body and a charity. Only a registered charity is entitled... Read more...