For millions in Britain, the weather in August, such as it is, presents the opportunity to jet away and put the office behind them for a couple of weeks. But in recent years, the penalties for leaving the UK have grown ever more costly. Our annual report on holiday taxes... Read more...
The housing crisis in London and other high-demand areas of the country is becoming an ever more important political issue as its invidious effects spread and deepen. Most economists agree on the cause: planning restrictiveness. They also agree how to fix it: weakening planning restrictions. Unfortunately, there is no such... Read more...
We first called for stamp duty to be abolished as far back as 2012. Five years down the line, it seems that Britain is ready to have a conversation about the future of stamp duty land tax – one of the most inefficient, pernicious and unfair taxes on the books.... Read more...
Stamp Duty Land Tax What is it? Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is a tax on the purchase of property payable by the buyers. It was introduced in 2003 but replaced stamp duty, which was first introduced in England in 1694. A single 1 per cent rate of stamp duty... Read more...
Action on Sugar today attacked cereal manufacturers over their ‘scandalous’ decision not to use colour-coded labels that reveal the amount of sugar in their products. The pressure group is calling for ‘traffic light’ nutrition information to be included on all food and drink products. Campaign director Katharine Jenner said: ‘shoppers... Read more...
The National Director of Clinical Quality and Efficiency of the NHS, Professor Tim Briggs, today stated that the NHS must put its house in order before seeking more money from the government. Professor Briggs told the Times (£): 'I do not think at the moment we deserve more money until... Read more...
Policy Exchange's new report, Farming Tomorrow, has many excellent suggestions for the reform of the UK's agricultural sector. The report, written by Warwick Lightfoot, has a plethora of sensible policies, including: Unilaterally phasing out tariffs A phasing out of production subsidies and income support New powers for the Food Safety... Read more...
This project is deeply unpopular and has managed to garner opposition to it from across the political spectrum. As recently as January this year, the Treasury Select Committee raised concerns about HS2's lack of economic rationale. This was the latest in a long line of critical reports from public bodies.... Read more...
The vice chancellor of the University of the West of Scotland, Craig Mahoney, has today bemoaned his salary of £227,000 as insufficient. The reason? He lacks a grace-and-favour home for entertaining. Vice chancellors, the chief executives of universities, are some of the best remunerated public officials in the country. The... Read more...
We were out campaigning today at Euston Station, the first stop on the HS2 line (if it's ever built!). We got an incredible response from the public, who were shocked by the cost, dismayed about the environmental impact and worried about the disruption it will cause their commute. If you... Read more...
Pictures from our action day in Guildford have been uploaded onto our Facebook page. Click this link here to view them. Below is a copy of our leaflet from the day. Read more...
This morning the BBC released information regarding the salaries of their highest earning employees including the likes of Gary Lineker and Claudia Winkleman. We welcome this move towards greater transparency in the public sector, and some of the figures that have come out from this publication are rather alarming. For... Read more...