Friday, 20 March 2009

TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 20th March 2009
 
Taxpayers' money funds Middle East Hate Education
 
The TPA's latest report, which was published on Monday, reveals that up to £100 million of British taxpayers' money is funding organisations that promote extremist propaganda and hate education in the media and in schools in Palestine. The paper includes shocking examples of the diet of hatred and violence fed to Palestinian children by state media and teachers funded by our money. The report argues that this practice threatens to perpetuate the circle of violence that has gone on for so long in that part of the world.
 
As a significant proportion of that money is allocated by the EU on our behalf, and other European taxpayers also find their money spent in the same way, for the first time the TPA's report has also been published simultaneously in six languages by other taxpayer groups in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Slovakia. This new coalition of groups, forged by the UK TaxPayers' Alliance, is a great way to further increase the pressure on politicians at all levels to stop wasting and misspending taxpayers' money. As part of this coalition effort, and to highlight the fact that the EU is involved in handing out our money without making it sure it is spent as intended, we held a launch meeting at the European Parliament on Wednesday (pictured, right), which you can read more about here.   
 
To read the full report, click here.
 
The report received a range of coverage:

Daily Express, How £100m of your cash goes to fund terror  
Daily Express, Leader: Millions in aid are being spent on promoting hatred 
Daily Star, UK aid 'trains killers'  
Jewish Chronicle, UK taxes 'funding terrror'
Telegraph.co.uk, Matthew Elliott: Education is key to ending violence between Israel and Palestine 
Little Green Footballs, British taxpayers pay for Palestinian hate education  
Spectator Coffee House, Mark Wallace: Taxpayers' money must not be used to fund hateful propaganda 
Devil's Kitchen, Mark Wallace: Funding our enemies  
Blaney's Blarney, Taxpayers funding hate education in the Middle East 
Centre for Social Cohesion, British donations funding hate education in Palestine 
CentreRight, Matthew Sinclair: Hate Education in the Palestinian territories since Annapolis 
The Diaspora Scrapbook, British taxpayers' money used to support hate education   
 
Supporter Call to Action
 
Do you have skills that can help the TPA's work? If so, we want to hear from you! We often come into contact with TPA supporters who have professional skills and expertise which are of particular use to our research and campaigning. A number of former tax inspectors, ex-civil servants, pensions actuaries, economists, serving and former councillors and even retired senior council officers help us by suggesting where we might dig to uncover examples of wasteful spending, explaining the often bizarre technicalities of public finances and even the best way to phrase Freedom of Information request to best access information. If you've got such experience, personal expertise in an area of public spending that would merit investigation or information about fruitful places to look to identify waste, do get in touch with Matthew Sinclair, our Research Director, at matthew.sinclair@taxpayersalliance.com

Taxpayers on the TV

It's been another great week for the TPA in the media. Yesterday, TPA Chief Executive Matthew Elliott appeared on the BBC News Channel's Question Time Extra (right) with the Chair of the Fabian Society to discuss issue such as university fees, the nanny state and the nationalisation of the banks. You can watch Matthew in action here. On Wednesday, Mark Wallace was on ITV1's Alan Titchmarsh Show discussing the huge cost to the NHS of bribing people to lose weight. Even more prominently, Matthew has been interviewed today by Newsnight on the growing divide between public and private sector workers, with the former enjoying higher wages, more generous pensions and far greater job security. Watch out for the report on Newsnight tonight on BBC Two at 10.30 tonight.


Campaign against the Cambridge congestion charge

TPA supporter Brian Macdowall is running a campaign with the Association of British Drivers against proposals for a congestion charge in Cambridge.  If you live in the area and want more information or to get involved then you can contact Brian via email on snapspeed@googlemaail.com or by telephone on 0779 4314 077.  Remember that grassroots action defeated the Manchester congestion charge resoundingly - just because the politicians want to squeeze us for more money doesn't mean they'll get away with it.  Let’s keep up the fight and see it defeated in Cambridge too!

Campaign Day in Knaresborough

On Wednesday 25th March we'll be leafleting in Knaresborough Market, North Yorkshire. Our campaign will involve recruiting new supporters but also protesting the unilateral decision taken by Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dems to siphon 10% of their councillor allowances for their own party political activities. If councillors don't hand the money over, they get deselected as candidates without a vote by members. We think this is state funding of political parties by the back door and will be collecting signatures to petition against such state funding. You can read more about the issue in Tim's recent opinion piece in the Yorkshire Post. We'll be meeting at 11am by 'Blind Jack's Statue' in the marketplace. I do hope you'll be able to join us for an important campaign day.  You can find a map here.  If you are coming please do notify us at tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com.

Demonstration in Kensington

Over the past few weeks TPA supporters have teamed up with the West London Residents Association and Guide Dogs for the Blind to campaign against a set of dangerous and expensive road works in Kensington and Chelsea.  We’ll be having a Rally on the brick piazza between The Library and Kensington Town Hall at 10am Tuesday 24th March.  This will last under an hour, at the end of which we will present our petition to the Council.  The nearest Tube is High Street Kensington on the circle and district underground line.  If you are coming please do notify us tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com.

Oxfordshire’s Councils plan to lecture you on waste

TPA supporter Eric Murray alerted us to this story in the Sunday Times revealing that councils in Oxfordshire, after putting microchips in your bins to monitor what you throw away, will be sending bureaucrats round to your homes to ‘re-educate’ you on refuse.  A trial in Norfolk last year failed, but South Oxfordshire Council are determined to press on with this intrusion into people’s privacy.  We urge you to voice your opposition to Councillor David Dodds [david.dodds@southoxon.gov.uk], the environment spokesman on South Oxfordshire Council, and the leader, Councillor Ann Ducker [ann.ducker@southoxon.gov.uk] and urge them to scrap their plans to snoop on us.

Best of the Blogs
 
 

Posted by Britannia Radio at 18:44