The TaxPayers' Alliance - Home

Blogs

4.20pm, West Midlands
Fiona McEvoy
West Midlands Business Crime Conference 2010

Yesterday the West Midlands Police Authority gave business owners the opportunity to see how their tax pounds are being used as they held their business crime conference in Birmingham. The WMTPA went along on behalf of local taxpayers... - Read More

2.40pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham
The First Available Exit

Yesterday George Osborne promised he would start cutting public spending on Day One:

“The message could not be clearer – if you find yourself on the wrong road, you take the first available exit instead of carrying on...  - Read More

12.50pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham
Eat food: official

If someone told you that they were in charge of a publicity campaign to encourage you to buy food, you’d probably think their boss was crazy. If they told you it was taxpayers’money, you’d probably demand a refund... - Read More

12.30pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace
The Government resort to Brass Eye for ideas

For quite a while it's seemed that the Government have been running out of ideas, but they have really excelled themselves today. The BBC are reporting that Peter Mandelson's BIS Department have commissioned a report which imagines a list of "jobs of the future"... - Read More

Telegraph.co.uk: Matthew Elliott: MPs' expenses: Secrecy makes matters even worse
Telegraph.co.uk: Wives of terror suspects could have benefits reinstated
Daily Mail: 'TERROR' WIVES MUST GET THEIR BENEFITS BACK
Norwich Evening News: Anger over cost of police website
Express and Star: Brum deal on Hustle
Luton and Dunstable Express: ‘Fear of crime group’ should concentrate on real victims
Leicester Mercury: Leicestershire MP repays £755 claimed on expenses for astrology software
Aberdeen Press and Journal: Thousands face losing right to buy home
Edinburgh Evening Post: Thousands living alone in council's 'family' housing
Times of India: UK MP under fire for buying India-style astrology software
Info4Security: CCTV is money well spent, says BSIA
BikersWeb.co.uk: ITS FIGHT OR FLIGHT ON BIKE CHARGES SAY BMF

Blogs

3.50pm, Better Government
Ben Farrugia
Power 2010: Vote for your favourite proposals

A few weeks ago I wrote about a new campaign to rebuild British democracy (see here).

Power2010's aim is to get all candidates - incumbent and challenger alike - to sign up to five popular reforms that would strengthen and improve the way our parliament and elections work... - Read More

12.50pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham
Slow or Sudden Death?

Yesterday, the credit rating agency Moodys opined that Greece and Portugal face a "slow death" caused by "bleeding" from the rapidly escalating cost of servicing their huge government debts... - Read More

11.35am, European Union
Lee Rotherham
Esponage

ESPON is the European Planning and Spatial Network, and ESPON 2013 its incoming research programme. Its function is to study how EU policy impacts upon regions rather than, say, communities, businesses, social brackets, or countries. In other words, you could say it’s the research wing of Subsidiarity... - Read More

The Sun: £315k for congrats to staff
Daily Star: ANJEM CHOUDARY GETS 24 HOUR POLICE GUARD
Scottish Daily Star: THIS SPENDING ISN'T HEALTHY
Scottish Daily Express: NHS BOSSES RUN UP GIANT JUNKETS BILL AS CUTS LOOM
Scottish Daily Express: Council's £315,000 party tab
Plymouth Herald: Review suggests £2,000 pay rise for councillors
Cornish Guardian: Councillors asked to vote on bumper pay rise
Politics.co.uk: It's fight or flight on bike parking charges say BMF

Blogs

3.05pm, Burning Our Money
Fiona McEvoy:
Non-job of the week

Well cometh the New Year, cometh the new non-jobs, and it’s fair to say that the Society Guardian is showcasing a fair few now we’re in to 2010... - Read More

2.30pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
God's Bankers

Blink and you’d have missed it. It comes in a proposal to amend the Vatican’s agreement with the EU on who mints its Euros... - Read More

Daily Mail: Banks pocketing your Isa tax bonus
Daily Mail: Public service cuts to target middle class: Harriet Harman's Equality Bill will protect poorer areas from closures
Daily Express: £25,000 BENEFITS? IT’S ALLAH’S CASH SAYS PREACHER OF HATE
Daily Express: JAIL’S ‘VEGAN’ BOOTS FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS TERRORIST
Northern Echo: Rock bosses could get £25,000-plus bonuses
Western Morning News: Councillors seek 33% pay rise
Tayside and Fife Courier: Officials’ flight expenses disclosed
Rochdale Observer: Struck off doctor will keep £400,000 payments
Russia Today: Swine flu “false pandemic” seems to be biggest pharma-fraud of century
thisismoney.co.uk: Banks pocketing savers' Isa tax bonus
Pakistan Daily Times: Expert to study lap dancers
Baraboo News Republic: Ben Bromley: A real stimulus package

BBC Radio Three Counties: TPA Policy Analyst Jennifer Dunn discussed whether councils had let taxpayers down during the snow, and argued that councils too often fail to prioritise on key services they should be delivering, like keeping roads and schools open and safe.

Blogs

1.05pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
Ruling the Waves

The French are notoriously energetic about using taxpayers’ money to support their language in the face of global English.

In 1997, the French government went one further and modified an existing aid scheme... - Read More

Daily Express: WORKERS FROM EU CLAIM UK PENSIONS
The Western Mail: Council tax squeeze on private sector
London Evening Standard: Bare all ladies, but spare us the agenda
Plymouth Herald: Councillors vote themselves a 30 per cent pay hike
Dundee Evening Telegraph: Taxpayers stump up for council jet trips
Business & Finance (Ireland): EU Commissioner urges standard corporation tax laws
Security Oracle: Coventry Named CCTV Camera Capital Of The UK

Pirate FM: TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace urged Cornwall County Councillors to reject a motion to increase their own pay
Heart FM: Mark Wallace expressed concern at Milton Keynes Council accidentally overpaying councillors for several years
Russia Today: Mark Wallace was interviewed about the Government’s shambolic over-ordering of swine flu vaccines

Blogs

11.15, Better Government
Jennifer Dunn
Have your say on London's Transport Consultation

I wrote a blog back in October about the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and the furore it caused culminating in the Evening Standard headline “Londoners face a £1 a mile toll”... - Read More

11.05am, Better Government
Ben Farrugia
Call to Action: the final MPs' expenses consultation:

Back in the autumn, Sir Christopher Kelly's inquiry into MP's expenses went well. There was a broad public consultation that got a large response. The public made their views extremely clear. As a result, a hefty block of excellent recommendations was delivered to Parliament - see here - and party leaders publicly agreed to support them... - Read More

10.20am, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
Nick Clegg breaks out some New Year honesty

We have long argued that the public don't want to be mollycoddled or given soft messaging on public spending. They know how tough things are, they have made big cutbacks in their own household budgets, and the last thing they want is for politicians to pretend everything is great... - Read More

Daily Telegraph: Council spend £23,000 on artwork for over-budget busway
The Sun: NHS spends £22m on translators for foreign patients
Aberdeen Press and Journal: Police pay out £300,000 in motoring bills
York Press: City of York Council's budget forms slammed as ‘waste of cash’
Coventry Evening Telegraph: THE 531 BIG BROTHER CAMERAS WATCHING YOU
South Wales Evening Post: Council faces £123m debt loan over homes
Wigan Evening Post: Council 'cash in' on fines

Over the weekend,

Independent on Sunday: Where does all our money go?
Sunday Times: Scotland 'the most affluent country in Britain'
Sunday People: JET COPS' HUGE BILL
Scottish Sunday Express: FURY AT BONUS RISE FOR CIVIL SERVANTS
Sunday Sun: CALLS TO BRING BOOZE BILL TO BOOK
ConservativeHome: Local government: Mark Wallace: Boris opens the books
The Times: Quango pays for police chief's luxury flat - and his tax bill
Daily Express: LABOUR DRAFTS IN FOREIGN WORKERS AS 2.5M BRITONS ON THE DOLE
Daily Express: ASYLUM SEEKERS GIVEN £10M TOO MUCH IN BENEFITS BUNGLE
Daily Mail: BRITAIN IS GIVING AWAY £1BILLION OF SWINE FLU VACCINE
The Scotsman: Edinburgh streets cleaner as litter wardens put their foot down
The Scottish Sun: SKINT COUNCILS BLOW £313k ON SWITCHING-ON BASHES
Manchester Evening News: No pay-back of £400k paid to shamed doc
Edinburgh Evening Post: City's streets cleaner as litter wardens put their foot down
North Wales Daily Post: Council tax expected to rise across North Wales
Liverpool Daily Post: Brace yourself for a big hike in council tax

Blogs

5.15pm, Campaign
Andy Whitehurst:
It's not just schools forced to play the system

The Times today leads with a report on how many of the nation's schools face punishment for the heinous crime of - get this - prudent financial planning... - Read More

2.15pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
Beyond Repeal II

In mid-December, we pointed to a handful of fisheries regulations that the Commission were repealing as part of its long-stated drive on bureaucracy. All were hopelessly out of date, and so ditched not out of any sense of regulatory burdens but out of simple practicality... - Read More

The Mirror: BINMAN BUSTED..FOR PICKING UP RUBBISH
The Times: Schools face millions of pounds in cuts for being prudent
Daily Express: QUOTE OF THE DAY
Daily Express: MPS CAN CARRY ON FIDDLING EXPENSES
Daily Express: POLICE TOLD: DON'T DISCUSS CRIME, IT UPSETS THE PUBLIC
Daily Express: IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS RAKED IN £15M BONUSES
Daily Star: IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS GET £15MILLION IN BONUSES
Luton and Dunstable Express: Cagey council spins a web of intrigue

BBC Radio Leeds: TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace discussed the failure of council and government planning on salt supplies

Blogs

4.00pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
Unternet

"The Commission attaches high importance to preserving the open and neutral character of the Internet." "Net neutrality" is the new buzzword, as expressed in the Commission’s recent Declaration on the subject... - Read More

12.20pm, Better Government
Jennifer Dunn:
The Highways Agency: Getting to grits with contractors

"The basic point is that the Agency does not know enough about what it is getting for the taxpayers’ money it spends on maintenance across its whole network. Without a better understanding of the costs of network-wide activities – such as resurfacing – it cannot hope to drive those costs down”... - Read More

The Spectator: Little platoons online
The Mirror: WE'VE BIN HAD
The Sun: We can't stop cleric's benefits
The Sun: BE AFRAID, DUSTMEN: IT'S A BIN...LADEN!
Daily Express: DUSTMEN SNUB BINS 1/4 INCH ‘TOO FULL'...IN CASE THEY GET HURT
Daily Mail: BINMEN GIVE NO QUARTER ON OPEN LIDS
Kilsyth Chronicle: Our busybody officials

Blogs

5.45pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
Sons of the Navigator

The Lusophone Games sound like something that should be handled by a BT technician. In fact, they form a Portuguese version of the Commonwealth Games, and feature on a commemorative version of the two Euro coin... - Read More

Daily Mail: KEEP A SLOP-BUCKET IN YOUR KITCHEN OR FACE A HEFTY FINE
Daily Star: MET OFFICE BOSS GETS 25% PAY RISE AFTER PREDICTING MILD WINTER
Daily Express: Put a slop bucket in the kitchen or face big fine
Aberdeen Press and Journal: Demand for Gaelic social sites
Aberdeen Evening Express: Dial D for despair over phone bills
Belfast Newsletter: Suspended FoI chief on full pay since May
Sheffield Star: Police probed over computer misuse claims
South Wales Echo: MP's wife hits back at expenses scandal
Cumbernauld News: Our busybody officials
Whitehaven News: Police force’s use of hire cars criticised
Gudio Fawkes' Blog: Prezza Loses BBC Battle Over Taxpayers’ Alliance
The Island Online (Sri Lanka): Five-year-olds to be given compulsory lessons on money, savings and debt

Blogs

5.30pm, Campaign
Mark Wallace:
The Tories shouldn't be planning new quangos

Well, it's the second day of the unofficial 2010 election campaign and already it appears that the Conservatives have pledged to create a new quango... - Read More

1.00pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
Recognising the points

The move towards a "common judicial area" went a stage further in 2009. There is, of course, something to be said for government agencies and law enforcers recognising judgements passed in other countries; there are also downsides, of course, often explored on democracy grounds... - Read More

Daily Telegraph: Met Office chief receives 25 pc pay rise
Daily Express: OUTRAGE AS YEMEN GETS £37M OF TAXPAYERS' CASH FOR JOBS
Daily Express: NHS PAYS £1M FOR ADVICE ON SAVING CASH
Daily Mail: Fury at NHS Trust which gave 3,000 staff paid half-day holiday... at taxpayers' expense
Daily Star: TERROR HOTBED IS GIVEN £125M OF YOUR MONEY
Western Express and Star: Hospitals spend £8m hiring agency staff
Yorkshire Post: Council chiefs 'flout' rules over spending
Hull Dail Mail: Andrew Allison: Apologise, Cllr Inglis, it was all your fault

Colchester Daily Gazette: Essex Police paid out £1.6m for hire cars over five years
Cumberland News: Cumbria police spend £1 million on hire cars in five years
Carlisle News & Star: Police spend £1m on hire cars in 5 years
Essex County Standard: Essex Police spend £1.6million on hire cars over five years
What Car?: Drivers pay more to park
CityWire: The Money Blog: Do five year olds need to be taught about finance?
TLA Direct: ‘Hefty’ surcharge for motoring misdemeanours
Motoring.co.za: 'Victims levy' to increase spot fines - even though the offence has no victim
Indiacar.net: Drivers pay more to park

Blogs

2.00pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
Pruning The Public Sector Paybill 

Christmas and New Year over, it's time to tackle that fiscal hangover. If the Conservatives win the election, George Osborne's first make-or-break budget is now less than 6 months away... - Read More

12.30pm, European Union
Lee Rotherham:
In no more than 100 words

It is, perhaps, a delicious twist, but Whitehall and its national counterparts are themselves to be hit by bureaucracy... - Read More

Daily Telegraph: Motorists hit by higher parking fees and fines
Daily Telegraph: Five-year-olds to be given compulsory lessons on money, savings and debt
Daily Mail: The £20bn handout
Daily Express: £20.8bn cost of housing benefit
The Sun: Plane hypocrisy
Scottish Daily Express: Gaelic social network fails
Scottish Daily Express: £1m to pay 12 workers at new quango
Plymouth Herald: Force spending more than £1,000 a day on hire cars
Aberdeen Evening Press: Police spend £1 million on hire cars
Lincolnshire Echo: Police stamp out fuel fill-up errors
Thisismoney.co.uk: Housing benefit bill soaring as recession bites
Deadline Press Agency: Gaelic Facebook “waste of money”
Carrentals.com: Tax payer cops expenses for hire cars for police

BBC Radio Humberside: TPA Branch Organiser for Hull and the East Ridings Andrew Allison did the Daily Newspaper Review.
SunTalk: TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace discussed the excessive payments being handed out to some through Housing Benefit.

Over the weekend,

The Sunday Times: London family receives record £279,000 housing benefit
The Sunday Times: Pupils to be given lessons on debt
Sunday Telegraph: Housing benefit bill rises to nearly £20 billion
Mail on Sunday: No joke! The slapstick EU class you pay for out of your taxes
Sunday Express: Parking fines surcharge to help sex attack victims
Sunday Sun: Crooked North cops break the laws they should be enforcing
Sunday Mercury: Birmingham Council gives Polish single mums Christmas bash
The Northern Echo: Police force spent £5m on hiring cars
Scottish Daily Record: Fury over £26m spent by police forces on hire cars
Plymouth Herald: Force spending more than £1,000 a day on hire cars
Sunday Mail: £15 victim charge for speeders
Sunday Times: 'Gaelic Facebook' attracts 1,500 members...at a cost of £250,000
Wales on Sunday: Drivers facing a £15 hike in fines
Wales on Sunday: Wales in 60 seconds
Daily Telegraph: The million pound pension pots of the mandarins
The Times: £15 extra on car fines to help victims of domestic violence and sex attacks
The Independent: Drivers face £15 surcharge to compensate crime victims
Daily Mail: Primary school heads 'waste' £32,000 of taxpayers' money on computer course in Australia
Daily Mail: £15 extra tax on car fines: Now drivers face hefty surcharge to compensate victims of violent crime
Daily Express: 'Wasteful’ Police fork out £70,000 a day on hire cars
Daily Express: TEACHERS BLOW £32,000 ON AN IT COURSE...IN AUSTRALIA
Daily Mirror: School heads blasted after IT training trip to Australia
Daily Mirror: £70,000 'a day on police hire cars
The Press Association: Motorists face penalty charge hike
The Scotsman: Police forces spend £½m every week on hire cars
Scottish Sun: £½m cop hire cost
Western Mail: Hired police cars costing taxpayers £2,000 a day
South Wales Echo: £985 per day hired cop car bill revealed
Exeter Express and Echo: Force spending more than £1,000 a day on hire cars
Liverpool Daily Echo: FURY OVER HIRE BILL
Huddersfield Daily Examiner: West Yorkshire Police spending nearly £2,500 a day on hire cars
Evening Star: Officials given powers to enter homes
Express and star: Council press officers cost £500,000 a year
Manchester Evening News: £30m price of hosting 2018 World Cup
The Bolton News: £3m police bill for hire cars ‘a waste of money’
ConservativeHome: Mark Wallace: New Year's resolutions for councils
Insideworldfootball.biz: Manchester MP hits out at cost of hosting World Cup matches