This week, in the wake of the Public Sector Rich List and our growing grassroots campaigns, two new organisers have stepped forward looking to set up TaxPayers’ Alliance branches.
The first is Shipley MP Philip Davies. He contacted me a week ago volunteering to become an organiser to help spread the low tax message and put his reasons for getting involved with the TPA fight for lower taxes as follows:
“I believe in lower taxes in principle because I fundamentally believe that people are better at spending their own money than the government are at spending it for them and that they should have the freedom to decide how to spend more of the money they earn. Low taxes encourage and reward enterprise and hard work creating a dynamic and successful economy. Finally, the government have overcharged people spectacularly over the last 10 years and routinely wasted taxpayers’ money. Enough is enough and the British people deserve some of their money back.”
You can help Philip set up a Shipley branch of the TaxPayers’ Alliance by contacting him at [email protected] or by calling me here on 0845 330 9554. If emailing Philip please put as the subject ‘Shipley TPA’.
Our next organiser aiming to set up a Rickmansworth branch is Michael Rock. He put to me the following as why he is joining up and supporting the TPA in fighting for lower taxes:
“As a UK taxpayer, I only have to look at my own net pay, my council tax, my petrol bills, my road-tax to see how totally out of hand the tax take of this government has become. The stark reality that strikes me is those who govern us have no idea just how much of a negative impact a decade of tax increases have had. The burden on the ordinary taxpayer has reached a level that is unsustainable, damaging to the economy and should now act as a galvanising point of reference for those who do not believe in big government but in the freedom and the liberty of the individual.
A low-tax economy has consistently proved to be the best way of increasing tax revenues, stimulating the economy and increasing wealth. Without a commitment to reducing taxes, we will lose our international competitiveness, our position as a leading nation for banking and financial services and an attractive proposition for foreign investors and business.
That any UK Government hasn't learnt from the reforms of the Eighties is a strong indictment of the blinkered, ignorant dogma certain sections of our political classes subscribe to. However, the TPA transcend party politics and the message they deliver is not only for people involved with politics directly: tax affects us all, whether it be direct or indirect taxation, and higher tax means lower personal wealth, particularly for those on the lower rungs of the ladder.
Everyday millions of pounds our money is frittered away on meaningless jobs, pointless arbitrary targets and negligent inefficiency. The one message I personally like to reiterate at every given opportunity is a simple one and I think we need to make that message heard: there is no such thing as Government money, just our earnings, taken by edict.”
If you would like to join in and help Michael set up a Rickmansworth branch of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, contact him at [email protected] or by calling me on 0845 330 9554.
These are exciting times for the TPA. We’ve won some victories on inheritance tax over the past months, but now as councils gather to increase your council tax next year, it’s time to rally again to fight against further tax hikes. Do get involved and join our campaign.