I wrote in CityAM about how our new How to abolish National Insurance report shows that it can be done in three simple steps:AS GEORGE Osborne approaches his Autumn Statement, there’s reason to hope he may finally do something about a tax albatross that hangs around the necks of employers... Read more...
Education Secretary Michael Gove announced yesterday a pioneering drive to cut spending on bureaucracy after a comprehensive, zero-based review identified potential savings of £290 million. As Peter Hoskin points out on ConservativeHome, the Education Secretary is going further than his cabinet colleagues by aiming to cut departmental spending on administration... Read more...
Lambeth Borough Council is becoming the country's first co-operative council. As part of this change, it appears more staff are being hired, although with the following example, priority will be given to redeployees. The council looking for a Young Lambeth Co-operative Membership Manager, paying £37,851-£40,506. Here's is part of the... Read more...
A government-backed mortgage scheme NewBuy is being rolled out throughout the country with a number of local authorities eagerly signing up – the video clip above is a report on ITV Central News focusing on the situation in Nottinghamshire. The scheme involves first-time buyers only paying a deposit of as little... Read more...
Motorists everywhere will be disappointed that MPs voted down yesterday’s attempt to reverse the Government’s proposed fuel duty rise. The proposed 3p increase is totally unacceptable when car owners are already paying 15 pence a litre more for petrol than they were in 2010 and 5 pence a litre more... Read more...
TPA supporter, Richard Moorehead, who is also Associate Director of Horwood & Holmes Corporate Finance in Belfast, writes about the urgent need to reduce Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland. The calls for the devolution of Corporation Tax powers to the Northern Ireland Executive are building to a crescendo, with the... Read more...
Bath retailers and local business campaigners joined forces with the Taxpayers’ Alliance and the British Retail Consortium to call on the government for a freeze in business rates. We gathered in Barton Street near the Bistro La Barrique, whose owner, Michel Lemoine, is angry at the number of shops standing... Read more...
The news that outgoing BBC Director General George Entwistle is to pocket a whopping £450,000 pay-out will shock and appal taxpayers everywhere. Mr Entwistle was in his job for just 54 days, meaning that for every day he served, he’ll receive an incredible £8,333. The pay-off is on top of... Read more...
Common sense seems to be breaking out in Bristol City Council’s (BCC) transport department. No sooner have they seen the wisdom of cancelling their Workplace Parking Levy, then they have now binned their plans to run so-called bendy buses on their rapid transit routes though Bristol. Instead, they are looking... Read more...
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When Windsor and Maidenhead Council installed smart meter in council buildings, energy consumption fell by 15% overnight. Surrey County Council did not go down this route, and instead decided to employ an Energy team. The result: since 2009/10 energy consumption has fallen by 16%. Hardly a great return. Now the... Read more...
On 15 November, a by-election will be held in the Cardiff South and Penarth Constituency. Former MP, Alun Michael, resigned last month and is currently campaigning as Labour's Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales. Below is a copy of a letter I have sent to candidates asking them questions... Read more...
17: 00 Update: Following Denis MacShane's announcement of his resignation Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance commented: "It is absolutely right that Denis MacShane has resigned, having systematically and disgracefully abused taxpayers’ money. With the report finding that he routinely misled parliamentary authorities about his expenses, it would have been unthinkable... Read more...
Following last week’s report on council ‘employment issues’ in the Isles of Scilly, their chief executive Philip Hygate has been suspended from his £100,000 post to allow an investigation into his conduct. The decision has been welcome by local activists. ‘Our group name stands for Honesty, Ethics, Accountability, Respect and... Read more...
Walthamstow Dog Stadium closed in 2008 and was subsequently bought by London and Quadrant Group (L&Q) for £18m. The site is now worth an estimated £7m. L&Q plan to build 294 new homes on the site, however campaigners have long argued the plan is not viable and represents poor value... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance yesterday exposed the scandalous amount of taxpayers’ money being used to subsidise trade union activity through both direct grants and so-called facility time. Finding out how our money is spent should be easy. But ferreting it out proved to be an arduous task as many public bodies... Read more...
Are we getting value for taxpayers’ money from our police force? Such a query has been raised by an investigation into days lost to stress and illness in Gloucestershire Police. Thanks to a Freedom of Information request by the BBC, it was revealed that stress-related absence has risen by two... Read more...
Writing for The Commentator Alex Wild argues the farce of taxpayer funding of trade unions must end. Read more...
A move to greater transparency may be on the cards in Hull, according to a report in the Yorkshire Post. Ian Anderson, Town Clerk at Hull City Council, has stated in a briefing note that an officers' register of interests should be created and would apply to those officers “who... Read more...
This infographic from our Fiscal Factbook illustrates the growth of government spending on debt interest payments since 2001, compared with Australia and Canada: Read more...
Residents in the London Borough of Ealing have recently received a copy of Altogether Better. There were four editions printed and distributed to residents in Ealing and Hanwell; Acton; Greenford, Northolt and Perivale; and Southall, and was distributed to a total of 131,000 homes. The council has said this one-off... Read more...
Last week Richard Baron - Head of Taxation at the Institute of Directors - and Eamonn Butler - Director of the Adam Smith Institute, spoke to a packed audience at our offices in London about the morality of tax. It was a fascinating discussion and, for those of you who... Read more...
We're keen to spread the word about the 2020 Tax Commission's innovative proposals not just around the whole country but internationally, too. I wrote an article for the Institute of Public Affairs' IPA Review on how The Single Income Tax could benefit Australia as well as Britain:Australia’s tax system has... Read more...
Bath University has a Prize Fellow vacancy to look at 'Corporations and public health: exploring the impacts of corporations on non-communicable diseases and public health policies'. Here's part of the advert:Arguably the greatest challenge for public health lies in reducing the contributions of tobacco use, unhealthy diet and harmful alcohol... Read more...