Pass The Salt
As the UK is blasted by snow and icy weather, the TaxPayers' Alliance have compiled a list of how much local councils have spent on road salt (not grit) in the last two years. Read more...
Christmas Tax
We reveal the £283 tax bill facing the average family this Christmas, higher than ever before. Many ordinary families are tightening their belts but with tax on most of the contents of their shopping basket Chancellor Osborne is still demanding his share, stealing away that Christmas cheer with taxes on all... Read more...
Britain and the ECHR
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) remains controversial as it forces changes in legislation that the British public and politicians do not want. This new research, based on a detailed investigation of cases that the British Government has lost, provides new insight into the cost of complying with the... Read more...
Taxpayer-funded environmentalism
We reveal for the first time the true extent of taxpayer funded environmental campaigning in the UK and the European Union. At a time when there are cuts in other areas of public spending and tax rises, it should be stopped. Read more...
Annual Non-Job Report 2008
The report reveals that public sector staff are paid more than their equivalents in the private sector, that public sector employment is rising and there is continued creation of non-jobs. The report contains ten particularly egregious examples of non-jobs. Read more...
The Real National Debt
This paper presents calculations of the UK’s real national debt and for the first time charts its growth over the last decade. The picture that emerges is highly troubling and underscores the urgency of current attempts at closing the deficit. Read more...
Council Spending: Unnecessary Jobs
We reveal new research on the cost of unnecessary staff at local councils. These non-frontline workers are doing jobs that could be cut, without putting frontline services at risk. Read more...
The Underlying Costs of EU Defence Integration
Our latest EU research paper provides both an historical and a contemporary perspective on EU defence integration. Read more...
Party Players: EU Funding of Party Political Research
The EU has in the past been criticised for funding trans-national political groups with European taxpayers’ money. Read more...
Taxpayer Funding of Trade Unions
Public sector trade unions are preparing to fight spending cuts and threaten strikes, and they are doing so with the help of taxpayers' money. Read more...
Foreign Office Prevent Grants
In September 2009 the TPA revealed for the first time where local authority 'Preventing Violent Extremism' (PVE) grants were going. The Government has now decided to adopt our position and abolish these grants, however Prevent - part of the broader 'Contest' strategy - is cross-departmental and the Foreign & Commonwealth... Read more...
Welfare Reform in Tough Times
The TaxPayers' Alliance sets out, for the first time, a practical, costed guide to welfare reform. Read more...
New TPA Research: A Practical Guide to Welfare Reform
Groundbreaking new research explores what improvements could be made to the benefits system on a tight budget Read more...
EU Flags
The EU enjoys many of the trappings of a state. It has an anthem and a patron saint, a passport and a President. But it is the EU flag that is the most well known symbol of the union. Read more...
Speeding Fines
The first report to collate the total amount of money generated from fixed penalties caught on speed cameras and fines for speeding and neglect of traffic directions imposed by the magistrates' courts throughout all of the UK. Read more...
The Spirit Illusion
A critical analysis of how "The Spirit Level" compares countries. Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance Manifesto: 3 Months On
Shortly before the last General Election, the TaxPayers’ Alliance produced a manifesto. We pledged to judge any new Government on the standard it set. The manifesto set out recommendations in three areas – tax & spending, reforming services and democracy & transparency – and divided them between measures where it expected to see action... Read more...
Trade Union Rich List
Cuts in public spending are essential in order to deal with a crisis in the public finances, but the unions are already threatening fresh waves of strikes if cuts are put in place. This new research note shows that many trade union leaders are receiving six-figure remuneration packages. Read more...
Regional Development Agencies Exposed
This report presents the first full list of the grants awarded by RDAs 2007-2009, and reveals how the majority of grants are going to other organisations rooted in the public sector, as well as exposing the growth of regional quangos. Read more...
Economic Effects of Rapid Fiscal Adjustment
This research note argues that ambitious cuts in spending can deliver improvements in both the UK’s fiscal position and economic prospects. Read more...
MP Resettlement Grants
After the expenses scandal of the previous summer, many MPs decided against standing for re-election. Others were voted out at the election. This research note details how departing MPs are receiving a one-off Resettlement Grant of 50-100 percent of their annual salary, dependent on their age and length of service. ... Read more...
European Union Orchestras
This research note explores how the European Union budget is being used to fund a wide range of orchestras, concerts and music festivals, and whether there is a clear policy of using these orchestras to promote the political objectives of the EU, in particular ever closer political union. Read more...
The Economic Cost of High Spending
This new research looks at the evidence that higher spending leads to lower economic growth, and suggests that the increase in spending over the last decade is already seriously depressing trend growth. Read more...
Britain’s Justice and Home Affairs Opt-Ins
In this research note, the TaxPayers’ Alliance reveals a list of JHA areas, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, in which the British Government has surrendered its opt out in Brussels. Read more...