Yesterday it was observed that the DCSF seems pathologically unable to engage with criticism, even to rebut it with a sound defence. Largely preoccupied with putting out self-congratulatory missives, the most it will stir itself to are simplistic dismissal's; "..we don't acknowledge there's a problem so this criticism is unfounded". In... Read more...
Unless we cut spending, taxes will soar For anyone paying UK taxes, yesterday's report on the public finances from the Institute for Fiscal Studies is an alarming read. According to the IFS, unless there are some serious spending cuts, to have any hope of getting our national finances back on... Read more...
For anyone who gets their education news from the website of the Department for Children, Schools and Families, last week must have seemed like another cracker. Official results once again showed school improvement; the number of 11 year olds achieving Level 4 (the standard considered necessary to have any chance... Read more...
On Saturday I made the trip into London for the Campaign for an Independent Britain conference to promote our EU campaign – the Great EU Rip Off. It was a very interesting day with some illuminating speakers. Sir Teddy Taylor, who has long fought against the EU... Read more...
1,022 people in town halls now earn more than £100,000 a year. Up 27% from 818 last year. At least 16 people in local authorities earn more than the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who earns £194,250 including his MP’s salary. Over 115 people in town halls are... Read more...
Shambolic Stoke-on-Trent City Council are now having to hire in a specialist corporate fraud team to monitor the council’s dealings with outside organisations and businesses, according to today’s The Sentinel. As we’ve often suspected, this council couldn’t run a whelk stall, and the paper claims these ‘fraud busters’ have... Read more...
Following Tuesday's massive protest against Westminster City Council's new stealth tax on motorbikes and scooters, the No To The Bike Parking Tax campaign have produced an excellent video, featuring the speeches in Trafalgar Square, the mass drive down Whitehall and the carnival atmosphere outside Westminster City Hall. If you keep... Read more...
Yesterday afternoon we got the final communique. Has The London Summit been a success? Have British taxpayers got good value for the huge expense and aggravation associated with hosting and securing the G20? The first thing to note is that this plan won't do much about the crisis currently affecting... Read more...
Government IT projects and failure are now so synonymous that it will come as no shock that the Commons Defence Select Committee has panned the implementation of the ‘Joint Personnel Administration’ (JPA) programme. Implemented by the Ministry of Defence in 2006 – at a cost of over £260 million –... Read more...
As Dan Hannan said, in the video we’ve all seen by now, you can’t go squeezing the productive part of the economy to swell the unproductive sector. That’s exactly what’s happening week in and week out with our non-job report. Each week you can see on the right the number... Read more...
An article in today’s Express & Star proves that it’s not just MPs abusing their expenses and claiming more than they’re due – our elected representatives in local government are at it too, as one Wolverhampton councillor is found to be claiming his full £26k allowance despite not having attended... Read more...
The campaign against the new parking tax in Westminster reached a new high last night, and the TaxPayers' Alliance was there fighting for an end to stealth taxes. 1,000 protestors were expected, but well over 4,000 showed up. After speeches from me on behalf of the TPA, Peter Roberts of... Read more...
Gordon Brown has announced that he plans to prevent massive redundancy payouts and reduce increases in senior public sector salaries in 2009/10. In an effort to match the current cutbacks in private sector pay, redundancy payouts of three or four times annual salary would drop to about £7,000 and salary... Read more...
As has been discussed a little in earlier posts, back in December 2007 the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) employed the consultancy firm PriceWaterhouseCooper's (PwC) to investigate, in depth, the impact of RDAs on England's regions. Better late than never, the PwC report was finally published yesterday. In... Read more...
The Centre for Social Cohesion has released a new report (PDF) on how a number of British universities have received donations from dictatorial regimes. A range of universities including the LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Durham and Exeter have accepted significant donations, directly and indirectly, from extremist dicatorships. The total accepted is... Read more...
Rebellious businesses in Coventry have resisted paying an additional Business Improvement District (BID) levy after ‘technical delays’ have meant that many are yet to receive the various benefits and services promised to them. According to today’s Coventry Telegraph, more than 600 of the 2,600 firms on 84 industrial estates... Read more...
Today the latest list of MPs' expenses was published, much to the horror of taxpayers everywhere. The total this year came to £92.9 million overall, a 6% increase on last year and an average of just over £144,000 per Honourable Member. This list, combined with the Jacqui Smith scandal... Read more...
As the war of words escalates in the run up to the G20, London is battening down the hatches in expectation of mindless violence on the streets. Thousands of people, from many different groups and as many different countries, are due to descend on the Capital on Thursday, hijacking the... Read more...
Following the release of our Youtube viral video on the Common Agricultural Policy, Daniel Hannan, the MEP who shot to fame last week through his speech in the European Parliament criticising Gordon Brown's spending and debt habits, has been in touch. By coincidence, he made a speech on the topic... Read more...
Good news today from the Conservatives who have promised to make a priority of reversing the Government's proposed increase in National Insurance and also to control the pay of senior staff in quangos and public services. The national insurance cut is great news for ordinary families, most of whom will... Read more...
It’s hardly surprising that some NHS Trusts still face shortages in front line staff. The average Trust Chief executive - NHS managers already among the best paid public servants in the country - enjoyed a salary rise of 7.6 per cent on average last year, while offering front-line health workers... Read more...
There is a poll in the Telegraph today, showing that people don't want more public spending, after all. Despite politicians' rhetoric about boosting the economy through large-scale public sector infrastructure projects, the public know this will simply plunge us further into debt and we would be much better off (in... Read more...
This is a call to arms: next Tuesday 31st March at 5pm in Trafalgar Square, and then 6.45pm outside Westminster City Hall on Victoria Street, the TPA will be joining a mass protest against one of the most poorly thought out, unfair and misguided stealth taxes in British local government. Full... Read more...
Seven councils yesterday came under fire from the local government watchdog the Audit Commission. Criticising them for mistakes which lead to £33million of taxpayer’s money being ploughed into Icelandic banks just days before their collapse, the report ‘Risk and return: English local authorities and the Icelandic banks’, accuses councils of acting... Read more...