Friday, 5 June 2009

TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 5th June 2009
 
Out of touch EU: The gulf between politicans and the people
 
Well, in all the tumult of the last 36 hours it would be easy to forget that there was also an EU Parliament election yesterday. In the run-up to it, the TPA was more active than ever in highlighting the huge cost of the EU's policies to taxpayers and consumers, and investigating the reality of whether MEPs provide a good deal for the public.
 
A new TPA/ICM poll released at the start of the week revealed the massive gulf in opinion between the British people and the politicians in Brussels. We asked 101 MEPs and 1,020 members of the British public for their views on six key EU issues, including whether we should have referenda on giving away powers, whether Britain should join the Euro and whether the EU is good for ordinary people.
 
We expected some MEPs to be out of touch, but the degree to which the Brussels political class are utterly at odds with the views of real people in the real world is staggering. The full analysis and write-up of the poll's findings is very revealing and can be found here.
 
The poll received coverage in a range of media outlets, including:
 
On Wednesday, on the eve of the EU elections, we released our MEP rankings, which revealed the best and worst British MEPs. Assessing all 78 sitting MEPs in terms of campaign activity, Parliamentary activity, personal expenses transparency and support for greater accountability and taxpayer value in 20 key EU votes, we were able to reveal what your representatives have really been up to.
 
The full report can be found here. 
 
The ten best and ten worst MEPs were:
 
Meptop10 MEPbottom10
 
Notably, the new Europe Minister, Glenys Kinnock, was the eighth worst MEP in the whole country. The report brought a particularly amusing response from Christopher Beazley MEP (right), who came joint bottom of the rankings. When asked what he would say to us in response to the report, he said:
 
"I would suggest they could go boil their heads", a most constructive answer to serious questions about his efficacy and value for money!

The rankings were of great interest, and were covered in:
 
Daily Telegraph, Britain's best-value MEPs revealed
Metro, £20m pot for MEPs
U.TV, Another defection
Inthenews.co.uk, Best and Worst MEPs revealed
Western Mail, Kinnock one of the bottom 10 MEPs, says report
Lincolnshire Echo, Time to vote for your MEP
Lincolnshire Echo, Outgoing MEP won't repay £60,000
Essex Echo, Euro MP refutes claim he is one of worst in UK
Belfast Telegraph, TaxPayers' Alliance names Allister top UK MEP
Derby Telegraph, MEPs rated among the top performers
Bucks Free Press, Bucks MEPs "value for money"
Cambridge News, MEPs' anger over performance report
South Wales Echo, Taxpayer’s Alliance don’t rate MEP Glenys Kinnock
ConservativeHome, Six of the ten best value MEPs are Conservative
Slugger O'Toole, Jim Allister has already won something
Intute, What about MEP expenses - are they worth the money?
The European Journal, UK MEPs' performance
Roger Helmer MEP, MEPs’ top marks for transparency in TPA study
Jim Allister MEP, Eve of Poll Statement by Jim Allister MEP
Jim Allister MEP, Best and Worst MEPs revealed
The Freedom Association, Best value MEPs are Eurorealists
BBC News Online, The Devenport Diaries: The last day 
Traditional Unionist Voice, It's official - Jim Allister is the UK's best MEP
WolvesWired, Best and Worst MEPs revealed
MashGet, Britain's best-value MEPs revealed
Karoo, Best and Worst MEPs revealed
UKNetGuide, Best and Worst MEPs revealed
TheParliament.com, New report names Britain's 'best and worst' MEPs
 
How to solve MPs' expenses - the TPA way
 
Today, we submitted our evidence to Sir Christopher Kelly's Committee on Standards in Public Life. In our submission, we lay out exactly how we believe the system should be reformed to stop any MP abusing it in future, and how best to restore the public's faith in Parliament. The inquiry is wide-ranging, but the TPA's solutions are simple, practical and firm. Our essential point is that MPs must live by the same rules as the rest of us, their expenses must be transparent, they must not be allowed to profit from their expenses and there is no way that a rise in their pay would be an acceptable outcome of this scandal. We have also applied to give oral evidence to the committee, so you can be assured that just as we were at the forefront of exposing what was going on in Westminster, we will now be at the forefront of fixing it, too. To read our submission, click here. If you have a spare moment, why not email or post a copy to your MP, urging them to back our proposals?
 
Bring them to Justice: Latest news on prosecuting MPs
 
The Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service released a very disappointing statement today which effectively stated that they do not intend to carry out a full investigation of MPs' expenses. Needless to say, we do not think that this is acceptable - particularly given the high importance of the case, and the severe harm it has done to public faith in Parliament. It seems increasingly likely that a private investigation and prosecution by the TPA is necessary to bring the worst MPs to justice. Our lawyers are considering which MPs to target, and then a full investigation into them will commence - there will be more news very soon.
 
Beverley Action Day
 
On Saturday 13th June our new Hull and East Riding branch will be leafleting Beverley Market at 11am. If you would like to come and spread the word about our campaigns as well as meeting our fellow supporters then RSVP to Tim Aker tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com. If you would also like to have an action day in your area please email Tim for information.
 
The TPA has moved!
 
Finally, a practical note. Last week we moved office - not very far, but into facilites better equipped to support the full scale of our growing campaign, media and research operation. There'll be more on this in coming weeks, including a photo tour of our new base, but please note that our new address is: 83 Victoria Street, London SW1H OHW
 
Best of the Blogs
 
 

Posted by Britannia Radio at 19:28