A special cabinet meeting is taking place at Wolverhampton City Council today to decide whether the new Tory-Lib Dem coalition should follow through with the plans of the previous (and disastrous) Labour administration by spending £66million of taxpayers’ cash on a deal with private consultancy firm, Axon. If these... Read more...
This is the follow on from the earlier Centre for Freedom and Prosperity video, the Economic Case for Tax Havens. It's well worth a watch. Read more...
There is something awfully patronising about this: "Doctors should instruct those over 65 to join walking groups and take part in other exercise like swimming and dance classes, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has recommended. It is pushing the 'walking cure' because more old people feel... Read more...
They never learn do they? After we exposed North Lanarkshire council for squandering £73,000+ on a spin doctor to tell residents how good the council is, Southampton City council’s Chief Executive wants to follow up by throwing away £100,000 on an image consultant. The reason the City council is hiring... Read more...
Against the background of worsening economic conditions and businesses struggling to remain solvent, the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) today publishes a detailed study of the severe burden placed on business by EU regulations. The report reveals the true scale of EU regulations, and uncovers the fact that the pace of regulation... Read more...
TPA campaigner Mike Hobson deserves a big pat on the back for rallying against the ‘bedroom tax’ imposed by Purbeck Council on property extensions. The tax is a £1,000 council levy on any property extension within the borough, naturally hitting those who want to improve their homes as well as... Read more...
The Scottish city of Stirling is to appoint a resident poet, or makar, it has been reported today. After an absence of 500 years, the bard will write poetry for special occasions and festivities and will "celebrate everyday life". Now, I don't want to be a killjoy, but it... Read more...
The BBC is funded by a universal tax. If you own a TV you must pay the licence fee. However, though we all pay for the same service, Mark Thompson, the BBC Director General has declared we will not receive an equal service. Islam is to be treated very sensitively.... Read more...
The only way is up Bank bail-outs and the worst recession in our lifetimes mean that government debt is set to soar.Well so what, says Mr Brown - as Keynes pointed out long ago, in circumstances like this responsible governments must borrow us out of recession. We can... Read more...
At a meeting in Paris on Tuesday, Germany and France launched a fresh onslaught against Switzerland, claiming it should be black listed for its tax haven status. "Switzerland offers conditions that invite the German taxpayer to evade taxes. Therefore, in my view Switzerland belongs on such a list" German Finance... Read more...
Today’s Birmingham Post reports that the Government will pay consultants more than £210,000 for an ‘unprecedented’ second opinion document detailing how many homes should be built in the West Midlands. This news has incited the anger of many West Midlands councillors who have blasted the whole exercise as a... Read more...
TPA activist Grace Chen answered our recent call for action with a superb email I’d like to share. In writing to her council leader to hold them to account over lost money in the failing Icelandic banks, she wrote: Regarding Icelandic banks, I do understand and agree with the... Read more...
If North Lanarkshire Council wanted good PR, they wouldn’t be advertising for this job which sits as our non-job of the week: “Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing£73,449 plus PRP (performance related pay) to a maximum of £4,899 We are looking for an experienced communications and marketing... Read more...
Mr Brown takes his choice and we pays our money According to the government, because they cut borrowing so much from the level they inherited from the Tories, they have loads of scope to borrow more now. Others point to the leaky roof, and the fact that borrowing is higher... Read more...
The problem with serious deficiencies in an education system persisting over a number of years is that today's students are tomorrow's teachers. Earlier products of our over-centralised education system, controlled by bureaucrats and politicians instead of teachers and parents, are now becoming teachers. The Times reports that trainee teachers are... Read more...
Cameron and Osborne's latest announcement on the economic crisis is a good start, but they must still go further for it to be of meaningful benefit. The idea is to offer small businesses a VAT deferral, allowing them to pay their VAT six months later than expected. Some have assumed... Read more...
This, from the Times, appears to be yet another example of clumsy public sector targets. There should be a balance between keeping unnecessary referrals to a minimum and making sure that referrals are made when they are worthwhile. The PCTs don't have any direct incentive to provide the service patients... Read more...
On Friday we blogged here and sent out an action alert to all our supporters to lobby those responsible for Town Hall mismanagement. The two stories that caught our attention involved Three Rivers District Council giving their chief executive a day off a week, whilst on full pay, to ‘enjoy... Read more...
The Healthcare Commission - the government's NHS watchdog in England - yesterday published its annual report into the performance of NHS Trusts. Despite its predictably positive overtones - "Patients and the public should celebrate these results as they show a real shift in performance"- the report does find some... Read more...
Spot the doublespeak in the following article from the Romford Recorder: “HAVERING Council leader, Michael White, has committed himself to not raising council tax after it was revealed that the council has millions of pounds locked up in struggling Icelandic banks... Cllr White again reassured Havering residents that... Read more...
John Stossel, in the Wall Street Journal, makes a powerful case that attempts to control by regulation activities that are regulated by spontaneous order are usually doomed to fail: "Most of life works by spontaneous order. It characterizes how we choose our jobs, hobbies, associates, recreation, etc. When politicians try... Read more...
It was reported this week that a council erected 'graffiti wall' had been defaced by an angry resident who, before the official unveiling, sneaked in and wrote on the wall, "I paid my taxes and all i got was this lousy wall". The wall is said to have cost... Read more...
Two stories in the papers today come from the ring top circuses of Herefordshire county council and Three Rivers council. They defy belief. Herefordshire resident Brian Hubbard has been ordered to stop cutting a grass verge outside his home because it makes the road look ‘too tidy’. In addition... Read more...
If you've ever wondered what happens to the vast amounts of taxpayers' money that flows into the EU, read this and weep: The EU, eager to improve the lives of the 7.5 million Bulgarians, dangled €11 billion, or nearly $15 billion, in aid. Far from halting crime and violence, the... Read more...