The astonishing amount of money generated by just one speed camera was recently revealed in Weston, North Somerset. In just 48 days, between 11 February and 31 March 2015, the single camera raised £191,200 in fines, which works out at nearly £4,000 a day! All speed cameras in North Somerset... Read more...
The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s excellent paper, the 'Ten Thousand Commandments' is an annual snapshot of the regulations within the US and it should serve as a reminder of the dangers of an overburdening state. The total annual cost of US regulation is now estimated to be $1.9 trillion which, if it... Read more...
Good news for taxpayers in South Gloucestershire as their new council administration pledges to phase out a controversial ‘bin tax’. Last year, local residents had to pay a £36 annual levy to have their garden waste removed - and the new waste collection regime cost £650,000 of taxpayers’ money to... Read more...
In the aftermath of last Thursday's surprise election result, the new Conservative government should reflect on the priorities for taxpayers and what needs to be done both now and over the course of the next five years until elections return in May 2020. These priorities can be categorised into three... Read more...
This afternoon in the immediate aftermath of the General Election, The TaxPayers' Alliance, Business for Britain, ConservativeHome and the Institute of Economic Affairs will be hosting a major conference to consider the implications of the result on the next five years. With the internal politics of the Coalition now a thing of the past,... Read more...
With just two days to go until the election, the parties are once again focussing on the Health Service - specifically, how much they'll pay for it. Labour are warning of an impending "cash crisis" in the NHS. Read more...
Responding to Ed Balls' comments on the Garden Bridge yesterday and the Chancellor's statement that it would be 'deeply depressing' to question the project, Jonathan Isaby, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: Read more...
Six days to go. Today Labour will pledge to kill the "bedroom tax" on day one if elected. Ed Miliband will, according to the PoliticsHome Breakfast Briefing, promise to fund the full cost of the levy for all families currently subject to it for as long as it takes to... Read more...
Cornwall Council is to be congratulated for trying to save taxpayers’ money during the election campaign - but they have gone about it in such a cack-handed way it’s ended up costing more! Last year, for the European Elections, Cornwall Council promised a polling booth revolution. "We have been looking at... Read more...
Employment Allowance allows businesses to reduce its national insurance contributions by up to £2,000 and figures today show that this has been very popular In total, 1,117,000 businesses have taken up the scheme, an estimated take up rate of 89 per cent. Northern Ireland has the lowest estimated take up... Read more...
There is welcome news for taxpayers today as the changes to Air Passenger Duty announced in the 2014 Autumn Statement come into force. The changes, which see children under the age of 12 exempted from the tax, could save a family with two youngsters £26 on a trip to Europe,... Read more...
The Financial Times economics editor Chris Giles has written an interesting article bemoaning the paucity of attention given to our dismal productivity statistics by the political parties, offering three tests on their resolve to fix it, which he says they all flunk. Read more...
Have you heard of this magic trick? Someone puts a ping pong ball under an upside-down mug and then says to you:"I can remove the ping pong ball without touching the cup.""Really?" You ask."Yeah, I've done it. Check now!" They reply.At which point you pick up the mug and they... Read more...
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a debate hosted by The Spectator, the motion for which was “Politicians should leave the wealthy alone – they already contribute more than their fair share.” It was, as one might expect for such an emotive topic, a lively debate. Read more...
You couldn’t make it up. Read more...
With the Welsh public sector budget deficit currently at 20% of GDP (compared to around 5% for the UK as a whole), you would assume that the Welsh Government would be mindful of wasting taxpayers’ money on pointless public sector jobs. But no, this week another costly vacancy supported by the public purse appeared... Read more...
Devon residents breathed a sigh of relief as the long and costly battle to reverse the council’s change of direction in traffic in Totnes finally came to an end this week—but with the local taxpayer being the ultimate loser. Devon County Council (DCC) reversed the flow of traffic through Totnes... Read more...
There is something of a comfortable delusion regarding the proposed ‘Mansion Tax,’ a levy on the highest value properties put forward by a number of parties ahead of the election. At its heart, the delusion relies on the idea that it would only target the coffers of the stereotypical ‘filthy... Read more...
All of the major parties have committed to financial restraint in their manifestos and at face value this is welcome. Labour is proud of its “Zero-Based Review” which has “identified savings [they] will make through reforming government bureaucracies, devolving power and services… and redesigning public services”. The Conservatives argue that... Read more...
Shocking news in The Times (£) this morning, as it is revealed that Britain is paying professional aid staff up to £1,000 a day as part of a “spending frenzy” to meet the Government’s 0.7 per cent of GDP spending target. Far from supporting those most in need, spending on consultants... Read more...
We've given them a chance but with 3 weeks to go we have yet to hear about how exactly the next Government is going to reduce the deficit. We've heard there's a commitment to do so but with additional pledges that will lead to spending more we can see that... Read more...
South West commuters are bracing themselves for a summer of disruption as Network Rail proceeds with its £1.7 billion electrification of the Great Western main line—but two questions must be asked. Is it really going to be worth all that taxpayers’ money, and why is it being undertaken in the... Read more...
Our research demonstrates the sheer scale of NHS dentists' salaries in the United Kingdom, revealing that despite 'austerity' across the public sector and constant calls for more NHS spending, an elite are still enjoying very comfortable lives at the expense of the taxpayer. Read more...
You would think that when Britain is ranked a poor 27th in world health and wellness that the NHS would be better off concentrating its limited resources on research, diagnosis and treatment of serious and life threatening illnesses. An analysis published in the Daily Mail today of the Health and Social... Read more...