Shortly before the last General Election, the TaxPayers’ Alliance produced a manifesto. Here is the latest in our series of posts looking at how the Coalition Government has performed in relation to our recommendations. The full TaxPayers' Alliance manifesto can be found here. Click here to see the full series of posts.... Read more...
The General Election campaign has begun, so now is a good time to assess the Coalition Government’s performance against the TPA’s 2010 manifesto for taxpayers. We produced this in the run-up to the last Election and it contained targets for any incoming government for the first three months, the first year... Read more...
New analysis by the TaxPayers' Alliance suggests that Britain's tax system is neither progressive nor balanced across different income groups. Read more...
The familiar sound of a Council magazine hitting the doorstep is an expensive and depressing one. For years they have served to be nothing more that party political drivel, espousing claims of success in attempts to hit meagre targets or attacking those who locally or nationally are making attempts to... Read more...
Yesterday, the EU’s Court of Auditors released a damning report into the use of €460 million taxpayer’s money to fund airport expansions. Read more...
As we approach Christmas, many Brits (your author included) will be stocking up with a few bottles to enjoy over long festive lunches. Whether your tipple of choice is a peaty Scotch whisky or a full-bodied French red, however, somebody else will be very glad of your purchase – the... Read more...
The Government’s Skills Funding Agency, alongside the European Social Fund, is subsidising a Management and Sales course provided by Lammore Consulting to the tune of £1,500 per person. Over 15 months including six classroom days and several rounds of “one-on-one interventions” an aspiring manager can gain the Edexcel L3 Diploma... Read more...
The news that the BBC is planning to contribute to a theme park with the help of a private company is puzzling. Read more...
Political parties are talking about the "tough decisions" they'd take to reduce spending. But they're all being very light on detail. Tax proposals, however, are much clearer. The only problem is that many of them are misguided. Labour want to introduce a Mansion Tax, while the Coalition Government has implemented... Read more...
Labour leader Ed Miliband will today criticise Coalition plans to reduce spending over the next Parliament. Read more...
Last week we heard some passionate arguments being put forward in the House of Commons on the subject of international aid. Some very important issues such as accountability and transparency were raised and we were assured that our government understands the need for scrutiny. We could be certain that every penny... Read more...
Let’s have a quick look at what we - as a country - are facing at the moment. National debt currently stands at £1.45 trillion. That’s £22,500 for every man, woman and child in the country. Just the interest on this debt will cost us £60 billion next year, which... Read more...
Last Tuesday the War on Waste came to Tower Hamlets, a borough which has become a byword for bad local government. Tower Hamlets was described by local government minister, Eric Pickles, as a “rotten borough” and things have got so bad that the auditors have had to be called in.... Read more...
Something very curious is stated in the Autumn Statement supporting documents. It is difficult to know exactly what is going on because very little detail is provided. But it could demonstrate that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) thinks that the hikes in Stamp Duty for buyers of very expensive... Read more...
Did you know that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) handed out £3.4 billion in benefit overpayments in 2013/14? Read more...
Our Stamp Out Stamp Duty campaign has borne fruit today as the Chancellor scrapped the notorious ‘slab’ rate structure. Despite hiking the rates, this change means a big cut in the bill for the vast majority of home buyers. As Chief Executive Jonathan Isaby put it, “an early Christmas present”.... Read more...
The Independent’s front page today features Kwasi Kwarteng MP under the headline “Cameron WILL have to cut NHS spending,” The professional outrage industry has, predictably, kicked into full gear. Read more...
“No main UK party proposes tax plan to benefit low earners” screamed headlines earlier this week yesterday as the Resolution Foundation released a report into the tax policies proposed by the main parties ahead of next year’s election. Read more...
There was much talk this weekend about an extra £2 billion of funding for the NHS. Healthcare certainly has become a major issue in the general election campaign – that means a bidding war is underway, with politicians from all parties pledging more money without really explaining where it will... Read more...
There has been welcome speculation over the past weeks and days that the campaign, led by Andrew Bridgen MP and supported by groups including ourselves, to eliminate Air Passenger Duty on flights for children under 12 could well come to fruition in this Wednesday’s Autumn Statement. Read more...
The Chancellor should adopt bold measures to simplify our chaotic tax system, according to a powerful new report by the Institute of Economic Affairs. Recommendations include: Read more...
George Osborne will this week deliver the final Autumn Statement of this Parliament. He should use the opportunity to declare a real War on Waste, going further and faster in real deficit reduction rather than political grandstanding. He should also help secure the recovery by speeding up threshold changes to the personal allowance... Read more...
Financial advisory boss Ivan Massow launched his bid to become the Tory candidate for the election of Mayor or London in 2016 with an article in the Evening Standard. Read more...
Angelina Jolie has become the latest person to condemn Labour’s mansion tax proposals. An annual levy on the expensive properties could “put me off” buying a home in London, she said, in an interview with Jon Snow. And this hardly comes as a surprise. There are echoes of Hollande-ism and people... Read more...