Daniel Knowles, in a blog for the Telegraph, repeats the tired old argument that, while private sector workers might in general be paid less, graduates are paid more and the need for lots of them at public sector bodies like the Treasury explains why public sector pay is so high.... Read more...
From nationalising foreign oil companies and mistreating its creditors to overbearing trade rules and threats to reclaim the Falklands Islands – Argentina's poor behaviour should not be repaid with massive World Bank loans, argues Matthew Sinclair in Public Service Europe. European countries have repeatedly found themselves the victims of aggression... Read more...
Matthew Sinclair argues in the Spectator's Coffee House that we can’t give money to countries that snub Britain at every turn. One of the justifications for Britain’s large, and rapidly growing, international development budget is that it promotes our national interests. Politicians are wary of appealing to a public sceptical... Read more...
If you haven't signed the petition at StopFundingArgentina.org and shared it with your friends yet, yesterday protestors in Buenos Aires came up with a fresh reason to support our campaign. They're burning the Union Jack in the streets. And they're burning it for the most absurd of reasons.The Argentinian Government recently... Read more...
Sheffield City Council is back in the spotlight. I have already written about massive hikes in the cost of parking permits, the introduction of new green waste collection charges, and also the introduction of fortnightly bin collections. All of these measures have come about because the council needs more money... Read more...
Emma Boon writes for Total Politics about why it's time to end British taxpayer support for Argentina. DfID isn't directly giving taxpayers' money to Argentina, but we do support loans to them. Given their recent agression towards the people of the Falklands, why hasn't this been stopped?Just over a month... Read more...
New research from the Institute of Economic Affairs looks at how many charities are funded with grants at taxpayers' expense, and how many of them are increasingly using that money and the organisational clout that it buys to campaign for changes in Government policy. Ending undemocratic subsidies for political campaigns... Read more...
Writing for the Daily Telegraph Online Comment Jonathan Isaby argues that British-guranteed World Bank loans to Argentina can't be justified: I think most people would agree that British foreign policy ought to promote and protect British interests. The same surely ought to be true of decisions taken by those running the Department... Read more...
All is not well in the sleepy village of Long Preston, near Settle, in North Yorkshire. For 20 years, Trevor Shuttleworth kept the village looking immaculate, and charged around £1000 a year for mowing the village greens. Any additional work needed was negotiated on a case by case basis, and... Read more...
Traffic jams in the skies over Heathrow aren’t just a pain for passengers whose flights take longer than they ought to, they’re a major environmental problem, too. The chief executive of National Air Traffic Control, Richard Deakin, recently explained why in the Daily Mail: The single biggest thing we could... Read more...
Economic growth under Elizabeth II is the highest under any monarch at 2.4 per cent, higher than Victoria’s 2 per cent and William IV’s 2.2 per cent. But, as Larry Elliott of the Guardian asks, should it have been better still? The real story of the past 60 years has... Read more...
We are calling for the British Government to oppose any further World Bank loans, underwritten by British taxpayers, to Argentina. Our new campaign includes an e-petition on the UK Government's official website and we have published new research looking at the scale of the funding. British taxpayers' money is supporting loans to... Read more...
The phrase “in Europe, but not of it” originates with Winston Churchill who was expressing his cynicism about British integration into a “United States of Europe”, but it now seems relevant in economic affairs as well. For a long time Britain was one of the most competitive European economies, but... Read more...
It can be hard to weigh up the almost daily panics and rallies in the eurozone but things are extremely grim. In his column this morning, Allister Heath - Editor of City A.M. - writes that there "will be no sustainable solution to the Eurozone crisis without either a break-up... Read more...
In October last year I wrote about Nottingham City Council's workplace parking levy. Any business that has more than 10 spaces for its staff, now has to pay the council £279 per year, per space. This scheme commenced in April.Already this is a having an effect. In a report in... Read more...
Local residents on the Scilly Islands are getting restive about their Chief Executive Philip Hygate trousering generous sums of taxpayers’ money. It is bad enough that he was paid a total package of £104,854, including pension contributions, for 2010-11. That is nearly £50 a year for each of the islands... Read more...
The Ministry of Defence spend more money using Government Procurement Cards than any other Department - accounting for three-quarters of all use of the cards - according to a new report by the powerful House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. Are they using them to pay for necessary equipment or... Read more...
An actuary, so goes an old joke, is someone who thought the sheer thrill of chartered accountancy seemed like too much excitement. The problems with pensions may be huge in scale and almost universal in their impact, but facing up to them often just seems too dull and uninteresting for... Read more...
A new report was released yesterday by Public Accounts Committee assessing the cost effectiveness of high-tech devices given to police officers. The verdict is not heartening for taxpayers. As the Government spends our money upgrading technology for MPs, police officers have not been left out: £71 million of taxpayers’ money... Read more...
In 2004, the last government embarked on a plan to set up nine regional fire control centres. This was supposed to speed up the response times to major events such as fires, flooding, and terrorist attacks. This scheme was eventually scrapped in 2010, leaving empty buildings, huge bills, £6000 Brasilia... Read more...
Writing for The Spectator's Coffee House blog, Matthew Sinclair looks at what European climate policy is actually achieving. The Government takes a lot of stick for blaming the weather when there are queues at airports or lacklustre growth figures. Now the European Union isblaming a ‘colder winter’, as well as ‘economic... Read more...
Treasury Minister David Gauke praised for launching new website and smartphone app which lifts the lid on how much tax we pay and how it is spent New leader of Southampton City Council slammed for increasing the size and cost of his first Cabinet Today the TaxPayers’ Alliance announces... Read more...
A company called Economic Solutions is advertising for three Sustainable Growth Advisers. They will be based in the North West of England. Here is part of the advert: Economic Solutions is a major not-for-profit group of companies delivering a wide range of business growth support, skills and recruitment services to... Read more...
Bath TPA supporter Malcolm Ward continues his campaign against the City’s Charter Trustees and their wasteful ways with our money. His current target is Bath’s enthusiasm for twinning. The City currently has four twinned towns, whereas other major towns in the region, such as Swindon and Gloucester, get along with... Read more...