For immediate release Responding to the resignation of Gary Lineker, Elliot Keck, head of campaigns of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“Licence fee payers will be breathing a sigh of relief at the departure of Gary Lineker from their TV screens.“For too long, Lineker has been an embarrassment for the BBC, flouting... Read more...
For immediate release TaxPayers’ Alliance says personal recession is finally over in response to latest GDP figures from Office for National Statistics. Personal recession first declared by the campaign group in February 2025. Figures from ONS show GDP per capita growth of 0.5 per cent in latest quarter. After two... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to Gary Lineker’s apology for sharing an antisemitic post, Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“Lineker’s loathsome social media posts have brought the Beeb crashing to a new reputational low. “It isn’t just about one offensive post, but a pattern of behaviour that... Read more...
Embargoed: 00:01, Wednesday 14th May 2025 Responding to the National Audit Office report into UK Research and Innovation, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“This damning report from the NAO makes official what the British public already knew - ministers have lost control of UKRI as it... Read more...
Embargoed: 17:00, Saturday 10th May 2025 Covid inquiry now set to cost £227 million, or £158,269 per day, in latest estimate produced by TaxPayers’ Alliance. Covid inquiry to be the most expensive statutory inquiry on record, both in terms of total spend and daily spend. This is the fourth... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to the appointment of government commissioners to oversee Spelthorne council, Benjamin Elks, grassroots development manager of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“The appointment of government commissioners to oversee Spelthorne council is a damning indictment of failings by successive administrations. “Years of town hall know-nothings gambling with property speculation... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to the newly announced free trade deal between India and Britain, which gives exemptions to Indian migrants from paying national insurance for three years, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“Taxpayers will be livid that while they’re being hammered with higher taxes, Indian workers... Read more...
Embargoed: 22:30 Wednesday 30th April 2025 Analysis of four major government projects reveals £6.2 billion in cost overruns and 3,372 days of delays. Just 11 per cent of all major government projects tracked by the Infrastructure Projects Authority were deemed likely to succeed in 2024, down from 48 per cent... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to the abolition of the Valuation Office Agency, Darwin Friend, head of research of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“Abolition of the Valuation Office Agency does give the appearance of a government that is at least in principle serious about tackling the quangocracy. “However, what is likely to... Read more...
Embargoed: 22:30, Sunday 27th April 2025 TPA’s quango rich list finds that 1,472 quangocrats received over £100,000 in total remuneration (salary, pensions, bonuses, expenses and other payments) in 2023-24. Looking at salaries alone, 315 on the list were on more than the prime minister himself. Highest paid quangocrat, Alex Mahon,... Read more...
Embargoed: 22:30 Monday 21st April 2025 TPA launches new project, Britain’s Quangos Uncovered with revelations that 285 individuals sat on multiple quango boards in 2022-23. Members of the Board reveals that across 398 quangos there were 4,605 board members receiving £125.8 million in remuneration. One individual, Martin Spencer, sat on... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster’s letter asking quangos to justify their existence or be shut down, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“For too long, Britain’s sprawling network of quangos has operated in the shadows, with successive governments all too willing... Read more...
Embargoed: 22:30 Monday 31st March 2025 Town Hall Rich List 2025 finds that a record 3,906 officials received more than £100,000, with 1,092 receiving over £150,000 in 2023-24, another record. The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) provides a council-by-council breakdown of local government executive pay deals. A regional breakdown is available in... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to the spring statement delivered by Rachel Reeves, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“The excruciating sight of a chancellor facing the consequences of her own actions will not provide any schadenfreude for businesses facing surging tax bills, job-seekers seeing opportunities evaporate, and... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to MP’s pay rising by 2.8 per cent for the next financial year, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“Taxpayers will be frustrated that while their own income is squeezed, MPs will face no such hardship.“Despite overseeing a soaring tax burden and crumbling public... Read more...
Embargoed: Sunday, 23rd March 2025 Starmer government set to spend £6.43 trillion by end of parliament, despite calls for spending cuts. Starmer set to be second highest spending PM since second world war, behind only Boris Johnson. Four of the ten biggest spending years in that period will be during... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to government data showing that council tax is rising by an average of 5 per cent in England Elliot Keck, head of campaigns of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“Fresh government data on council tax rises shows that once again local authorities across the country have failed in... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to Liz Kendall’s speech on welfare reform, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“It is difficult to take the government’s claim that it wants to get people back to work seriously given its relentless assault on British businesses and taxpayers.“Liz Kendall talks about giving... Read more...
For immediate release The main green taxes in the UK cost taxpayers £17.8 billion in 2023-24, the TaxPayers’ Alliance has revealed.This comes in response to the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch's speech warning about Britain's “impossible” plans to achieve net zero by 2050.The green tax burden, which includes the... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s speech on reshaping the state, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“Taxpayers will be sceptical about the prime minister's rude awakening to the urgent need to reform the state, given he’s spent his time in office handing inflation-busting... Read more...
CORRECTION: Since publication of this research, we have been informed that the figures on the pension contributions for Sunil Chotai, as published in the accounts for Charles Darwin Academy Trust, were incorrect. These have now been updated in the research paper and in the press release below. A link to... Read more...
Embargoed: 22:30 Monday, 3rd March 2025 Almost half, or 47.2 per cent, of councils that published their accounts for 2023-24 increased their financial reserves despite raising council tax. 59.5 per cent of local authorities in the East Midlands reported an increase in usable reserves from March 2023 to March 2024,... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech on increasing defence spending, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“The Prime Minister deserves credit for being the first politician in some time to go beyond the rhetoric and actually boost defence spending, particularly through cutting the extraordinarily... Read more...
For immediate release Responding to Kemi Badenoch’s speech at Policy Exchange criticising global quangos and activist courts, John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:“Kemi’s speech will come as a welcome change for Brits fed up with the managerial diatribe emanating from their political class. “Taxpayers have been funnelling... Read more...