The UK spends vastly more than the rest of the EU combined on large procurement contracts, and much less on smaller ones, research finds. The United Kingdom published 167 contract award notices on contracts worth €100 million or above. France published 29, Italy 25 and Germany 5. These are worth altogether €73.77 billion and accounted for 52 per cent of such... Read more...
Welcoming the news that the wasteful garden bridge project has been scrapped for good, TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive John O'Connell said:"The writing has been on the wall for this project since Dame Margaret Hodge's damning report four months ago. The fact that the Garden Bridge Trust have been unable to raise the necessary funds... Read more...
New research from the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) today shows how hard millions of families are hit in order to enjoy a well-earned break. As UK families jet off for their summer break, new research shows how the treasury rakes in £3.1 billion in holiday taxes The average UK holiday maker will pay £68.74 in... Read more...
Following the report by the LSE (covered in the Daily Telegraph this morning) that stamp duty is a negative burden on the UK economy, TaxPayers' Alliance Chief Executive John O'Connell said: "This pernicious tax prevents younger people from getting on the housing ladder, and stops older people downsizing to more manageable homes. This hurts people at every stage... Read more...
Following the publication of salaries of those earning over £150,000 in the BBC's accounts, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance: "Licence fee payers deserve to know how their money is being spent, so it is right that the BBC have finally published the salaries of some of their... Read more...
Following Philip Hammond's warning that the government must hold its nerve on public sector pay, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "The chancellor is right to offer caution on public sector pay and to say that we need a grown-up debate about spending. The nation's public finances are still... Read more...
Following from the government's announcement that they will review the public sector pay cap ahead of the Autumn Budget, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It would be a grave error for the government to completely abandon prudence with public sector pay when the nation’s finances are in such a... Read more...
Following the government's announcement that they have agreed a "Confidence & Supply Agreement" with the Democratic Unionist Party, Alex Wild, Research Director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Taxpayers resent politicians cooking up deals behind closed doors that invariably end with their cash being thrown wherever is politically advantageous rather than where it could... Read more...
Responding to the SNP manifesto, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Anyone listening to Nicola Sturgeon today would be forgiven for thinking there was a magic money tree waiting to be shaken to fund this manifesto. Scotland's finances have been in a dire state because of its... Read more...
Responding to Labour's manifesto, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: This entire manifesto is based on the clearly absurd belief that businesses can be repeatedly hammered with massive tax increases and crippled with regulation without any wider impact on the economy, jobs and investment. If even a handful... Read more...
Responding to Labour's proposals for increased taxes on financial transactions, Alex Wild, Research Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "When politicians say things that sound too good to be true, invariably they are just that. The idea that vast sums can be raised simply by 'clamping down' on tax avoidance is... Read more...
Reacting to Labour's leaked draft manifesto, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:"This manifesto is a toxic mix of nationalisations, interventions and monumental tax hikes. A 1970s-style agenda would be a disaster for the country and the parties should instead be offering up policies that get the economy in shape to compete... Read more...
Reacting to the Conservatives' proposal to cap energy prices, Alex Wild, Research Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "One of the Prime Minister’s first acts on moving in to Downing Street was signing up to the most expensive conventional power station anywhere in the world at Hinckley Point, so her new found... Read more...
Key findings of analysis of Labour's tax proposals: VAT The VAT lock is specified as applying to the standard rate. It says nothing of exempt or zero-rated goods and services, for example insurance, foods, medicines, building supplies This would also leave room for increasing the 5 per cent rate on... Read more...
Reacting to Labour's pledge to reverse cuts to Capital Gains Tax, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:"This is yet another example of politicians making policy on the hoof, promising more money by hiking taxes. In any case, all the evidence shows that cutting CGT has positive effects for the broader economy. If... Read more...
Reacting to Theresa May refusing to rule out tax rises if the Conservatives win the general election, Dia Chakravarty, Political Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It is deeply concerning that Mrs May is not ruling out the possibility of tax rises on an already highly taxed population. After decades... Read more...
Sadiq Khan right to take taxpayers off hook for Garden Bridge, says TaxPayers' Alliance Reacting to Sadiq Khan's announcement that he is pulling taxpayer support for the Garden Bridge, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "It is good news that Sadiq Khan has seen sense and taken... Read more...
Responding to Theresa May's announcement that the UK will continue to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, says: "The 0.7% foreign aid target is totally arbitrary and meaningless and it is disappointing that the Prime Minister has refused to see sense... Read more...
TaxPayers' Alliance reveals 2,314 council staff raked in more than £100,000 In 2015-16: At least 2,314 council employees received total remuneration in excess of £100,000 in 2015-16. This is 89 more than the previous year. 539 council employees received total remuneration in excess of £150,000 in 2015-16. This is 53... Read more...
Responding to the publication of Dame Margaret Hodge’s review into the Garden Bridge, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "This utterly damning report proves what campaigners have been saying about this hugely expensive vanity project all along. There is absolutely no justification to carry on wasting taxpayers'... Read more...
Reacting to the news that CH2M have pulled out of their £170m contract with HS2, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance John O'Connell says: “The revolving door between HS2 Ltd and CH2M never passed the smell test and serious questions were rightly raised around HS2 continuously appointing staff from one... Read more...
Responding to the news that the Chancellor has dropped the National Insurance tax hike for the self-employed, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It is heartening that the Government has decided to abandon the much-criticised rise in national insurance contributions for the self-employed but this whole episode... Read more...
Local authorities spend nearly £15 million subsidising unions, TPA reveals 371 local authority staff members who worked for trade unions at least 50 per cent of the time The total amount spent on "facility time" by local authorities was at least £14,666,610.42 This would be enough to fix 276,728 potholes... Read more...
Responding to the Budget statement given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "The Chancellor announced some welcome upward revisions to growth forecasts and set out a quicker pace of deficit reduction than at the Autumn Statement. That represents good progress, and... Read more...