Aid to India will end in 2015
Aid to India will end in 2015 Read more...
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TaxPayers' Alliance reports Ken Livingstone to HMRC over tax irregularities
When details of Ken Livingstone's tax arrangements first emerged, I wrote about my concerns on my blog. I said that "...for Ken Livingstone to throw around accusations of tax dodging one minute then rely on his accountants to minimise his own burden the next is clearly hypocritical." Following further revelations,... Read more...
Ending centralised pay bargaining is a very good idea
This morning the Daily Telegraph reports that centralised pay bargaining for many public sector workers may be abolished at the Budget. That would be right for taxpayers; right for public sector workers; and mean better public services. The people who would lose out would be the union bosses who rely... Read more...
How fast can the Government spend your money?
Every day the Government spends huge amounts of your money, paid for with irresponsible borrowing and ruinously high taxes. Too much is wasted, but the sums involved can make it hard to appreciate just how much is spent. To help get our heads around the scale of public spending, we've... Read more...
Biteback Publishing special offer: Let them eat carbon available for £4.99
To celebrate Climate Week, Biteback Publishing have announced a special offer. You can buy Let them eat carbon for £4.99 - half the normal price - from their website. A number of Parliamentarians have used the book to challenge expensive climate policies in the House of Commons, and actively debated on TV and radio, and in the newspapers.... Read more...
Bath's expensive jolly
Delegates from Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES) rushed off to the South of France earlier this month to take part in MIPIM, the annual jamboree for ‘international property trade’. Five council officers felt the need to go out there in order to ‘promote the overall development agenda for... Read more...
Non-job of the week
Surrey County Council was one of those councils who recently increased council tax. We have commented many times on how Surrey wastes taxpayers' cash, so perhaps it was not unexpected the council increased the tax burden on its residents. Now the council is looking for a Development Manager as, to... Read more...
MPs debate excessive public sector pay
This morning MPs spent an hour and a half debating pay in the public sector, with much discussion of remuneration packages for senior executives working at local authorities. Labour MP Andy Slaughter, who instigated the debate, echoed TPA concerns about excessive pay in numerous public sector bodies and commended our... Read more...
Tameside Action Day
We have an action day planned this Saturday, 17th March in Ashton-under-Lyne. We will be out talking to local people about issues affecting them, and also collecting signatures on a petition calling for the government to make an immediate cut in fuel duty of 2.5 p per litre. A report... Read more...
Nick Clegg's Tycoon Tax would affect the rest of us soon enough
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has proposed what he calls a new Tycoon Tax. The proposal sounds quite reasonable but in reality it would produce unfair results and, judging by past experience of these kinds of policies, affect plenty of non-"tycoons" over time. Read more...
Council openly advertising union jobs
Reading Borough Council's Directorate of Corporate Resources is looking for a new Administrative Assistant. Not interesting on a first glance, but when you read the advertisement you realise it is not council taxpayers in Reading who are benefiting. We are seeking an organised and reliable person to provide administrative and... Read more...
High sickness levels at Hull City Council
Last year the leader of Hull City Council, Cllr Steve Brady, said he was in talks with the unions to reduce the number of sick days taken by staff. Looking back at notes I made at a full council meeting, he said current sick absences must be reduced from the... Read more...
South Somerset's dodgy parking deal
Anger in South Somerset as their District Council (SSDC) is threatening to introduce car parking charges on market towns that have never had charges before—unless the town councils cough up money to compensate them. ‘The District Council are saying the only way the Town Council can keep free parking is to pay the... Read more...
National Fair Fuel day
Today we are joining campaigners across the UK to support National Fair Fuel day to persuade the Government to cut Fuel Duty on petrol and diesel. Organised by the FairFuelUK group, today’s protest will involve a mass lobby of parliament. MPs will come face to face with their constituents who... Read more...
View across East Kent: Garden Waste Collections
In Shepway the garden waste collection service is comparatively new – and they have always charged extra for it. In Canterbury it is free, and they have just decided to keep it so – though there is a charge for people requiring extra sacks for large amounts. Dover, however, is a... Read more...
Some councils still don't get it as chief executive pay continues to rise
Last week, the Daily Mail reported that council Chief Executive pay in the North East has increased by up to 13 per cent in some cases. Using our Town Hall Rich List 2011 some of the examples are: North Tyneside Council paid its chief executive a salary of £196,021 in... Read more...
How taxpayers' money funds trade union campaigns
It’s the end of another week in Westminster when the issue of taxpayer-funded trade union activity has been on the agenda. Wednesday morning saw MPs debating the issue and now new evidence appears which suggests that the problem has reached a whole new level, with taxpayer-subsidised trade union branches openly... Read more...
Stockton on Tees Council raises council tax by 3.5%
Referendum dodging Stockton on Tees Borough Council last night voted through a 3.49% council tax increase. If the proposed increase had been just 0.02% higher, this would have triggered a referendum where local residents would have had their say. Councillors want us to believe they rejected the offer of a... Read more...
Tell the Government to stop aid to Argentina
Over the weekend, the Sun on Sunday reported on the huge amounts of aid money going to Argentina, while their government threatens the right of people in the Falkland Islands to remain British. Partly through the World Bank and partly through the European Union. I looked at some of the... Read more...
Avon's hot air
Wiltshire Council - the council that got rid of its chief executive last year - now announces that it is freezing its council tax and is implementing savings of £32m on its budget of £330m by ‘closing council offices, cutting posts and working more efficiently.’ ‘Interestingly enough in our financial... Read more...
Non-job of the week
Two weeks ago, one of my non-jobs was a Senior Travel Awareness Officer in Enfield. This week Darlington Borough Council is searching for a Local Motion Travel Advisor. According to the job description the successful applicant 'will provide information and advice on walking, cycling and using buses and trains. Much... Read more...
Councils in the North West wrong to hike Council Tax
Continuing our nationwide campaign against planned Council Tax rises, we are highlighting research and official statistics to put the proposed increases in context and suggest some areas where savings could be made instead. Today we have focused on a number of councils in the North West who are hiking council... Read more...
Redcar & Cleveland taxpayers say no to 3.5% council tax increase
Encouraged by the victory for council taxpayers in Brighton and Hove, we teamed up with local Liberal Democrats in Redcar to oppose a proposed 3.5% council tax hike. Local people were amazed Redcar & Cleveland Council were turning down a government grant worth around £1.4 million, and instead intend on... Read more...
Victory for taxpayers as plans for Council Tax increase are defeated
In a great victory for Brighton and Hove taxpayers, Conservative and Labour councillors teamed up to defeat the ruling Green Party proposal to increase Council Tax last night. Plans for a 3.5 per cent increase were thwarted as the full Council instead opted for a freeze. Brighton and Hove Council... Read more...