Saturday, 17 January 2009

TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 16th January 2009
 
TPA and Global Vision launch new EU campaign
 
Unveiling a new poll revealing the public's appetite for radical change in Britain's relationship with the EU, the TPA and Global Vision launched a new campaign on Sunday to highlight the impact of the European Union on the lives and finances of British taxpayers. The campaign, which will run for the six months up to the European Elections on June 4th, will use the research, campaign and media methods that the TPA has honed in exposing waste, mismanagement and bad government in Britain to scrutinise the EU, allied with Global Vision's experience and expertise in EU issues. We will be revealing the real life impact the EU has on the money in your pocket, the prices in the shops, the way services like bin collections are run and much more - we want to take the EU issue out of the talking shop and onto the high street.

The campaign was launched with a specially commissioned YouGov opinion poll that reveals the British public are deeply opposed to the current relationship between Britain and the EU, and that there is considerable appetite for radical change. The poll also provided the first voting intentions poll for the 2009 Euro elections. The key findings are:

  • 45% of the public feel that none of the main parties adequately represent their views on Britain's future relationship with the EU, whilst only 29% believe that any of the main parties represents their view. Among Conservative supporters, only 35% feel that any of the main parties adequately represents their view on Britain's relationship with the EU.
  • 64% of the population demand radical change in Britain's relationship with the EU, including an end to political integration and the supremacy of the European Court. 48% of those favour a looser relationship based on trade and voluntary co-operation, whilst a further 16% support withdrawal from the EU. By comparison, only 22% of the population support Britain remaining an EU member on current terms.
  • 64% of the public would vote no to Britain joining the Euro, compared to only 24% who would support Euro membership.
  • The economic crisis has made people less likely to support joining the single currency - with 27% made less likely to support adopting the Euro, compared to 18% who are more likely to support adopting the currency.
  • 59% of the population believe the British Government should disregard the EU’s VAT rules, should they feel that a further cut is necessary in the 2009 Budget to combat the recession. Only 25% believe the Government should obey the EU's rules.
  • First Poll of EU Election Voting Intentions: It found that the Conservatives lead the poll on 35%, followed by Labour on 29%, Lib Dems on 15% and UKIP on 7%. Notably, 10% of Conservative voters at a General Election would switch to UKIP at the European elections, compared to 2% of Labour voters and 1% of Liberal Democrat voters. Similarly, 10% of Lib Dem voters are planning to lend their vote to the Greens at the European elections.
The full poll data can be found here.

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“The EU affects almost every aspect of our lives, from the work place to prices in the supermarket. It lands a huge cost on ordinary families that they can ill afford to bear, especially during the recession. People have a right to know how their money is being squandered in Brussels and we are going to expose what is really going on. The main political parties have let people down by avoiding or fudging the EU issue, but it has such a big impact on our day to day lives that it must be dealt with.”

Ruth Lea, Director of Global Vision, said:
“The current situation is simply unacceptable. The EU costs British people billions, and controls far too many of our national policies. The people want a new deal, where we can trade and cooperate with Europe but not suffer all the tax, bureaucracy and meddling that comes with full EU membership. That deal can be achieved, and it is in the interests of all of us that we take back control.”
 
The reaction of the media and the public to the campaign has been fantastic. Describing our approach as "credit crunch euroscepticism", Iain Martin, Comment Editor of the Telegraph, said he thought the campaign was "excellent" and urged the Conservatives to follow our lead in drawing attention to the very real harm done by the EU.
 
Here is a run down of the coverage the campaign launch received:
Sunday Telegraph, Leader: An itch for change 
Conservative Home, 10% of people who will vote Tory in a General Election will vote UKIP in June's Euro elections
The Sun, 2 in 3 say dump EU (not online)
Spectator Coffee House, Mark Wallace: A new approach to Euroscepticism 
Press Association, Call for looser ties with EU
Irish Independent, UK public still opposed to joining euro despite slide 
Teletext, Voters 'want looser EU ties'
Western Mail, 'Loosen UK's Euro ties,' say majority 
Eursoc: EU, British Want Change 
Daniel Hannan Blog, Sixty-four per cent want to end the primacy of EU law 
Newcastle Journal, Europe snub 
Huddersfield Daily Examiner, Anti-EU poll 
Daily Post, 'Loosen ties with Europe' verdict  
The Herald, Majority want 'looser ties' to European Union
Focus (Bulgaria), Loosen Britain's ties with European Union, say two-thirds of voters
Political Betting, Boost for main parties in EU election poll 
UK Polling Report, More from the YouGov Euro poll 
UK Polling Report, First Euro Election Poll  
We're very excited about the campaign, so keep an eye out for news of the regular research papers we'll be publishing and the eye-catching stunts that we'll be staging to draw attention to the issue over the coming months. You can also visit the new EU blog on our website to catch up on news, views and publications.
 
Help defeat the Government's last ditch attempt to keep MPs' expenses secret
 
As you know, the TPA led the national fight in 2008 to get MPs' expenses published in full - after all, they're your MPs spending your money, why on earth shouldn't you be told what they do with it? From the Derek Conway scandal on, the issue was huge and we resoundingly won the media and public debate. When that public outcry was combined with the notable victory our friend Heather Brooke achieved in the High Court, which ordered the Parliamentary authorities to publish full details of all expenses claims, the victory was ours. Unfortunately, in the time it took for the authorities to process the receipts, claims and other documents, the Government appear to have become very worried by the prospect of being open and honest with the public and this week they launched a last ditch attempt to effectively change the law, over-rule the High Court and keep those expenses details under lock and key without a full debate. Cunningly, they published the plans on the same day as the announcement about Heathrow and Equitable Life. 
 
We broke the back of this battle last year, and a lot of MPs are now on our side after the strength of public opinion became clear last year - it's crucial that we encourage them to stop the Government from forcing these measures through, keeping the public in the dark and further harming Parliament's reputation. Please write to your MP urging them to oppose the plans and support transparency in the vote next week. You can find the contact details for your MP here.   
 
Quango spending on communication soars
 
As part of our ongoing campaign against the unaccountable, wasteful quango state, yesterday we published a new report highlighting unnecessary spending by quangos. Using Freedom of Information requests to 32 public bodies including Regional Development Agencies and a range of other organisations, we discovered that between 2006-07 and 2007-08, they increased their average "communication" budget by a whopping 24%. Worryingly, communication spending - which can include PR, lobbying, advertising and other activities - is growing far faster than administration costs. The full report can be found here.  

Quango spending is often wasteful and ineffective even when they are carrying out their given task, but far too many go beyond their given task and spend huge amounts simply promoting themselves and lobbying politicians for budget increases. With a recession taking hold, public pressure is building for cuts in the £64 billion quango industry, and the unnecessary areas of communication spending are surely a good place to start.

The report has hit the media today, and is already making waves and raising further questions about the unaccountable, big-spending nature of the hidden quango state:

Birmingham Campaign Day

In our first campaign day of 2009, we wil be out petitioning for lower taxes in Birmingham next Wednesday, 21st January, and it would be great if you could join us. The response we get from the public to our tax cut petitions is always great, so we're keen to get out and about in as much strength as possible. We will be meeting 10.30am at the top of the Victoria Square fountain, opposite the main entrance of Birmingham City Council.  Here is a map of the meeting area. If you're able to come along, please contact our West Midlands Campaign Agent Fiona McEvoy to confirm at Fiona.mcevoy@taxpayersalliance.com 
 
Other campaign day dates for your diary
 
To build on the excellent boom in new TPA supporters last year, 2009 will see us holding a lot of action days and petition days around the country, at which your help would be much appreciated. Here are a few dates for your diary for upcoming action days over the next few weeks:

Southampton, 30th January

Bath, 3rd February

Newcastle, 12th February

We will send round full details of where and when to meet closer to the time but please put the date in your diary and let us know at tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com if you'd like to come along and help strike a blow for taxpayers.
 
Non-job of the week

Over the past few weeks we’ve had so many emails sent in highlighting local council non-jobs after the high profile Non Jobs report 2008.  By far the most widely reported job in the 2008 report the Street Football Coordinator sent in by a supporter last spring, so your contributions are very welcome.  This week’s non-job sent to us is another example of political correctness taking precedence over providing services.  You can read it here.  If you think money should be kept in your pocket instead of spending on PC gesturing, tell the leader of Surrey County Council Nick Skellett.  You can contact him here: n.skellett@surreycc.gov.uk

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Posted by Britannia Radio at 12:21