Britannia Radio

Special Bulletin: Winning the war on quangos

 

Dear Supporter,

 

This is a special bulletin to draw your attention to some very encouraging successes for the TPA in the last 36 hours, both in terms of public policy and media coverage.

 

You may recall that just over a year ago we published Unseen Government, the most comprehensive database ever produced of the quangos, agencies and other bodies that make up Britain's increasingly hidden, unaccountable government. The report was extremely well received at the time and made a big impact amongst the public.

 

12 months on, it has made a big impact in Westminster, too. Yesterday David Cameron announced his intention to carry out a full, detailed review of every single quango in the land to eliminate those that are unnecessary, scale back others and bring as much of their work - and budgets - back under democratic control as possible. When the TPA asked him in the press conference if he would change the rules to make the publishing of our database official practice, he confirmed he would, praising the transparency the TPA have promoted.

Of course, politicians have pledged "a bonfire of the quangos" in the past and failed to deliver, so we will keep up the pressure to ensure this one is delivered as promised. That said, it is a great success to get quangos back on the table and in the firing line.

 

As a result of the TPA's ground-breaking work on the issue, we enjoyed unparalleled media exposure on this issue yesterday. Most notably, there were no fewer than three separate interviews with TPA spokesmen on last night's Newsnight - a first for a UK think tank. TPA Campaign Manager Susie Squire appeared in the report package discussing David Cameron's proposals, TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace debated quangos live on air with Jeremy Paxman and a senior quangocrat and TPA Research Director Matthew Sinclair appeared in the 'Politics Pen' to make the case for abolishing the Regional Development Agencies (all three pictured, right, in action). This is a fantastic achievement for the campaign, and heralds a new level of profile and influence for the low tax agenda.

 

You can watch the full programme here. Susie appears at 14 minutes in, Mark at 19 minutes 20 seconds and Matt at 35 minutes 30 seconds.

 

Our research framed and influenced the debate across other media outlets, too:

 

BBC Radio 4 Today Programme, The TPA's research was a key talking point for a discussion of Cameron's proposals  
BBC Daily Politics, The TPA's quango research was used to introduce an interview with the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury  
Sky News, Jeff Randall Live, Susie Squire said it was time politicians had the courage to follow through on their promises to cut back on quangos
BBC News Online, Tories pledge to cut back quangos 
BBC News Online, Q&A: The row over quangos
Daily Mail, Edward Heathcoat Amory: Let's wield the Quango axe once and for all
The Independent, Simon Carr: Unelected, yes, but very handy for passing the buck
The Sun, David Wooding: You know when you've been quango'd 
The Times, Treasury announces 'bonfire of quangos' to save taxpayer millions
UTV, Culling the quangos (again)
The Herald, Whitehall hits back at attack on quangos
Third Sector, Cameron pledges to take on 'quango state'
MoneyMarketing, Commission for Employment & Skills backs Tory calls for QCDA to be scrapped

As ever, thank you for your support.

 

Yours,

 

 

Matthew Elliott,

Chief Executive

 

www.taxpayersalliance.com