When governments look to fight hyper-inflation a common strategy has been to issue a new currency.The idea is that the new currency will restore credibility and signal a break from the past. Today it has been announced that the government is trying to do something similar in an attempt to... Read more...
It’s been a good month for prisoners. First came the news that dozens will be released early to ease on overcrowding. Then there was even better news that those on early-release would get a £200 goodbye, courtesy of the taxpayer. But today there’s consolation for those still behind bars -... Read more...
In the news this week:Tour de France costs us £6.8m- "The 94th race will have its "Grand Départ" in London on Saturday... Starting the tour in Britain has cost £6.8 million, including a £1.5 million fee for the event's organisers. Transport for London has stumped up £3.2 million and the... Read more...
New calculations by Mike Warburton and Maurice Fitzpatrick at Grant Thornton are yet more evidence of the damage that has been done by Gordon Brown's removal of tax credits on dividends. They show that an estimated three million investors in personal equity plans (PEPs) and equity-based individual savings accounts (ISAs)... Read more...
In the news recently:NHS negligence cost us £4bn- "BRITAIN could have had 16 giant new hospitals - if doctors had not made so many cock-ups. NHS chiefs have used £4BILLION of taxpayers' cash in clinical negligence costs since 1997. And that would have been enough to build at least 16... Read more...
Today the Telegraph reports that the number of students passing five good GCSEs in English, maths, science, a modern language and history or geography has fallen from nearly 44 per cent to 28.6 per cent.This is symptomatic of an education system that responds to government targets and league tables instead... Read more...
A Healthcare Commission report shows that 99 out of 394 trusts are failing to take basic steps such as safely decontaminating reusable medical equipment and keeping facilities clean. This can be added to the news last November that 84% of staff did not wash their hands before and after contact... Read more...
The BBC has today come under fire for promoting its own agenda of ‘trendy causes’ in a report commissioned by its own governors, forcing it this morning to publish guidelines ensuring impartial broadcasting.Allegations and rumours have long been made about BBC bias, highlighted by an ingrained prejudice against the United... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance has produced its first Annual Review:Download the 2006 TPA Annual Review (Pdf) Read more...
Today it has been announced that the amount of overpayment in the tax credits system has fallen. Reuters reports that the total has fallen by £100 million to a total of £1.7 billion this year. This is still a huge amount. A mistake is still made in almost half of... Read more...
This report used the Freedom of Information Act to discover a startling number of local government employees being paid over £100,000 per year. Many local government salaries are rising rapidly while council tax payers face higher bills.Download Town Hall Rich List (PDF) Read more...
Welcome to the world of waste. You are about to enter a twilight zone of crazy spending, political correctness, utter incompetence, and fantastic jollies, all funded by the British taxpayer. In this book, the authors have highlighted a myriad of examples of Government waste and useless spending, taken from thousands... Read more...
This report lists details of 100 civil servants with pension pots of over £500,000. Download Whitehall pensions (PDF) Download the full data set (Excel) Read more...
The taxpayer funds an increasingly large army of government political appointees. This report investigates some of the salaries we're paying. Download The Political Payroll (PDF) Read more...
The case against political parties being bailed out by the taxpayer. Download The Case Against Taxpayer Funded Parties (PDF) Read more...
This report shows how working life is easier in the public sector than the private sector - more pay, fewer hours, more days off sick and better pensions. Download Life is easier in the public sector (PDF) Read more...
Councillors' allowances up again, and the best place to be a councillor. Download Councillors' allowances (PDF) Read more...
An FT Harris poll confirms that most people see little improvement since 1997 in schools or hospitals. A truly staggering amount of public money has been spent on services and the public are increasingly noticing that a lot of this has been wasted. The idea that the main problem with... Read more...
In this document Patrick Barbour discusses the problems created by the present system of government and the principles by which it might be improved. Subsequent papers will outline detailed programmes for different government functions. Download Better Government Position Paper (PDF) Read more...
This press release outlines the problems the Better Government campaign seeks to address and sets out the results of an ICM poll showing public disaffection with politics. Download Better Government Press Release (PDF) Read more...
TPA response to Tax Freedom Day, which in 2007 fell on 1 June. The report compares estimates of Tax Freedom Day in other countries. Download Tax Freedom Day response (PDF) Read more...
The TPA commissioned the respected Centre for Economics and Business Research to build a dynamic model of the UK, to show how tax reductions will benefit the economy. This report explains how the model was set up and simulates a reduction in the corporation tax rate to the Irish rate... Read more...
This report shows how, if Gordon Brown had not increased the tax burden, the basic rate of income tax could have been cut to just 10 per cent.Download The real cost of Gordon Brown (PDF) Read more...
A fair income tax which taxed all income at the same percentage would dramatically improve incentives, while bureaucracy could be dispensed with almost entirely. This idea, already sweeping Eastern Europe, is the 'flat tax'.Published by The TaxPayers' Alliance and The Stockholm NetworkYou can order a copy of the flat tax... Read more...