Motorists landed with £635 million parking bill
Figures released by The Department for Communities and Local Government last week revealed the huge amount councils are raking in from parking. They are set make £635 million in 2013-14, up from £601m...
View ArticlePublic want simpler taxes and less waste
The Sun ran a poll carried out by YouGov last week, revealing the public’s deep dissatisfaction with the way government spends taxpayers’ money and the lavish severance packets of top public sector...
View ArticleAverage flat in England and Wales now pays punitive 3 per cent Stamp Duty
New Land Registry figures released by property management firm London Central Portfolio have revealed that the average price of a flat in England and Wales has risen above £250,000, taking them into...
View ArticleThousands of NHS patients put up in hotels
Last week the Telegraph reported that 5,000 patients being treated by the NHS had been put into hotels for overnight stays. Freedom of Information requests showed 21 trusts have spent £1.6 million...
View ArticlePublic Accounts Committee report is a devastating blow to HS2
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report High Speed 2: a review of early programme preparation is a devastating critique of the flawed rail project. We have consistently campaigned against HS2 since...
View ArticleHS2 report is “just another expensive propaganda exercise”
Responding to the report HS2 Regional Economic Impacts, Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The Government has squandered taxpayers’ money on a cynical attempt to win...
View ArticleHigh Business Rates force another business to close
During a report on BBC News yesterday, it was highlighted just how crippling Business Rates can be. When Ian Shaw lost his job, he decided to open his own Fish & Chip Shop in Rochdale....
View ArticleCOMMENT: Ed Miliband’s energy announcement may be nonsense, but it could...
Writing for The Spectator’s Coffee House, Matthew Sinclair argues that under Labour’s new energy plans, politicians will effectively renationalise the energy sector. First politicians banned cheap...
View ArticlePublic Accounts Committee right to criticise rural broadband scheme
Responding to the publication of the Public Accounts Committee’s report, The rural broadband programme, Dominique Lazanski, Digital Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The Public Accounts...
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New data shows Stamp Duty is becoming an ever-bigger problem
HMRC published new data on Stamp Duty this morning which show increases in all regions. The biggest increase was in the North East, where HMRC took 25 per cent more from home buyers in 2012-13 than...
View ArticleCutting spending at Woking Borough Council
At the Conservative Party Conference, we held a session looking at practical ways councils can reduce spending and cut Council Tax. This took place in the Freedom Zone, which was open for all to visit....
View ArticleHS2 and its taxpayer funded propaganda
Yesterday the “independent” growth taskforce (hint: it’s anything but independent) urged cities across the UK that they needed to be “HS2 ready”. This announcement by the taskforce was accompanied by a...
View ArticleMaria Miller challenged over costs of establishing redundant body unlikely...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has today challenged Culture Secretary, Maria Miller, not to waste a penny of taxpayers’ money establishing a “Recognition Panel” to which a self-governing press regulator...
View ArticleThe case for freezing business rates is stronger than ever before
The Daily Telegraph has today called on the Chancellor to freeze business rates at the forthcoming Autumn Statement. They’re absolutely right to do so: further pressure is needed on George Osborne to...
View ArticleHammersmith and Fulham Council party like it’s 1999
Hammersmith and Fulham Council will cut Council Tax for an impressive seventh year out of eight next year. This represents a cut of 20% since 2006, and a return to a low level of tax last seen in 1999....
View ArticleCome on George, go one step further and freeze business rates
On 5 November 2012, we launched our ‘Freeze Business Rates’ campaign with the British Retail Consortium, and since then thousands of our supporters have written to their MPs urging them to support a...
View ArticleProposed MP pay hike is unacceptable and must be rejected
Reacting to reports that IPSA are to propose an 11 per cent pay increase for MPs, Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It is totally unacceptable to hike politicians pay...
View ArticleIPSA slammed as “not fit for purpose” as it recommends pay hike for MPs
Jonathan Isaby of the TaxPayers’ Alliance issued the following response to today’s announcement by IPSA on MPs’ pay: In recommending this pay hike at a time when wages are stagnating for millions...
View ArticleSpending transparency will force councils to tighten their belts
Eric Pickles has opened up a new front in the war on council waste by issuing new guidance for local authorities to publish key spending data. The new transparency code will be mandatory for all...
View ArticleThe ecocrats, quango chiefs and mandarins earn ten times as much as the...
New figures have revealed that 819 mandarins and quangocrats (excluding local government) earned over £100,000 in 2013, costing taxpayers more than £100 million. The highest paid public official is Ian...
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