TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 19th June 2009
MPs' expenses - keeping up the fight
The TPA would like to thank our members for all their support for our campaign to find out exactly how our elected representatives have been spending our money. We are making progress, but there are several ways that you can help to keep up the pressure for full transparency. As you will have seen, yesterday Parliament released partial details of MPs' expenses, but the crucial second home addresses remain secret. We will of course continue to campaign for the publication of second home addresses, but in the meantime we need your help to scrutinise the information that has been released. While The Daily Telegraph has done a great service to us all, it has only published information about a minority of MPs. With your help, we can ensure that every MPs' expenses are properly scrutinised.
What to do
1) Please follow this link to access the expenses details.
2) Pick an MP. Please start with your local MP, no matter how obscure they are - this will help us to cover the greatest range of Parliamentarians.
3) Scrutinise all of the available documents. Three types of expenses details have been released: The Additional Costs Allowance (second homes), the Incidental Expenses Provision (office costs) and the Communications Allowance (a £10,000 fund for "communicating" with or propagandising constituents).
4) Please note any absurd, dubious, petty, greedy or amusing claim, noting the link to the relevant document and the page the claim appears on. Secretive MPs, such as those who have blacked out the details of what they have claimed for, are also of interest.
5) Please send your observations to us as a response to this email.
MPs' expenses - keeping up the fight
The TPA would like to thank our members for all their support for our campaign to find out exactly how our elected representatives have been spending our money. We are making progress, but there are several ways that you can help to keep up the pressure for full transparency. As you will have seen, yesterday Parliament released partial details of MPs' expenses, but the crucial second home addresses remain secret. We will of course continue to campaign for the publication of second home addresses, but in the meantime we need your help to scrutinise the information that has been released. While The Daily Telegraph has done a great service to us all, it has only published information about a minority of MPs. With your help, we can ensure that every MPs' expenses are properly scrutinised.What to do
1) Please follow this link to access the expenses details.
2) Pick an MP. Please start with your local MP, no matter how obscure they are - this will help us to cover the greatest range of Parliamentarians.
3) Scrutinise all of the available documents. Three types of expenses details have been released: The Additional Costs Allowance (second homes), the Incidental Expenses Provision (office costs) and the Communications Allowance (a £10,000 fund for "communicating" with or propagandising constituents).
4) Please note any absurd, dubious, petty, greedy or amusing claim, noting the link to the relevant document and the page the claim appears on. Secretive MPs, such as those who have blacked out the details of what they have claimed for, are also of interest.
5) Please send your observations to us as a response to this email.
Olympic Village
As the expenses scandal rages on, one area that has proved even worse than the luxury items and services claimed on expenses is the question of MPs making capital gains on property purchases. The most egregious and high profile abuses of the allowances system all involve the second homes allowance, and home purchases have been by far the most costly. One solution is to provide government owned accommodation for those MPs whose constituencies are outside commuter range. That would prevent a recurrence of scandals when MPs make profits from selling homes financed with taxpayers’ money. This week the TPA revealed figures showing that housing MPs in the Olympic Village would provide a solution that is both cost effective and, equally as important, would prevent future abuse of the taxpayer funded allowances system, helping MPs to rebuild public trust in Parliament.The Village 2012 Games will leave behind a legacy of over 3000 homes. The Olympic Village has not attracted the level of private sector investment that was anticipated and as a result has largely been nationalised. This means there will not have to be any significant extra capital expenditure to purchase the property, and will save taxpayers around £11.5 million in Additional Costs Allowance every year. More than just purely financial considerations, this proposal will provide MPs with a key opportunity to increase their standing with the public.
The report received broad spectrum media coverage, including:
Daily Telegraph, 'House MPs in Olympic Village' The Mirror, Olympic Village 'could house MPs'
Telegraph.co.uk, MPs expenses: call to house MPs in Olympic Village
Politics.co.uk, Olympic solution for MPs' second homes
The London Echo, Plan to End Expenses Scandal By Housing MPs in Olympic Village
Spectator.co.uk, Susie Squire: Housing our political representatives
OrderOrder, Best Idea for MPs’ Second Homes Crisis Solution
DevilsKitchen, Mark Wallace: Two problems, one solution
Contract Journal, Olympic Village for MPs' second homes?
Virgin Media, Olympic Village 'could house MPs'
AOL News, Olympic Village 'could house MPs'
Yahoo News, Olympic Village 'could house MPs'
Leigh Reporter, Olympic Village 'could house MPs'
Scottish Sun, Olympic Village 'could house MPs'
Daily Post, Olympic Village 'could house MPs'
Channel 4 News, Olympic Village 'could house MPs'
ConservativeHome, Matthew Sinclair: Housing MPs in the Olympic Village
Londonist, Could MPs Be Housed In The Olympic Village?
ePolitix, Olympic village 'is MP housing solution'
Calman Commission
After many months of deliberation, the Calman Commission has this week reported back on the question of Scottish devolution. Last year the TPA produced a report on Scottish funding, financial devolution and the Barnett Formula which we submitted to the Commission. Our report reccomended full fiscal devolution, so that
Calman's report suggests partial fiscal devolution - Holyrood would gain the power to control many more of its own taxes and spending, though not all and not fully. In terms of taxation and representation, this is a good move. If any government spends money without having to think about the consequences of raising that money, then it will spend too much and too recklessly. It can only be right that the Scottish Parliament spends money drawn from its own voters - otherwise either English taxpayers will be made to pay too much tax, or Scottish voters will be disappointed that the scale of their own Budget is effectively decided in Westminster
Leaflets, car stickers and more...
A big thank you to all our supporters who responded to last week's call to action. Remember, whether you are in a position to deliver thousands of leaflets or just a couple of dozen on your street, whether you want one window sticker for your car or you run a company with a hundred vans, we can send you campaign materials free of charge on request. So please reply to this email if you would like to receive any of the above and keep fighting the good fight!
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