Monday, 11 January 2010

 
TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 11th January 2010
 
 
Dear TPA supporter,
 
Happy New Year! I hope you've all weathered the snow storms of the last few days safely (and that your council has got round to gritting your road) and are as raring to go as we are at the start of what is set to be the TPA's most important year yet. You don't need me to tell you that 2010 is going to be a historic year - but it is down to all of us to make sure that it is remembered as the year when Britain started to turn itself around, rather than the year we sank into the mire. Already, the pre-General Election campaign has started off on the crucial issues of taxation and spending, so we will have a central role to play in the political debate over the coming months.
 
There will of course be a lot more to say on that in future bulletins, but this week I have one essential task to ask you to carry out. You will recall that we won the MPs' expenses battle in the Autumn, and as a result Sir Christopher Kelly's report proposed a really good system which would clean up Parliament. Now there is the final hurdle: the public consultation on whether to implement Kelly's ideas or not. You may well have seen the extensive media coverage about the possibility that the Kelly proposals are in danger of being watered down at the last moment. That is a very real danger of that, and only by responding to the consultation with overwhelming support for Kelly's proposals can we be sure of securing the real clean-up of Parliament that we all want to see. 
 
 
We have all fought incredibly hard - and very successfully - thus far to first expose and then build pressure for cleaning out the corruption and indulgence in Parliament. This is your chance to drive that home and secure victory, so please follow this link and spend a few minutes on cleaning up our democracy once and for all.
 
Thank you as ever for your support,
 
 
 
Matthew Elliott
Chief Executive
 
Help save a friendly neighbourhood binman
 
One of the most frustrating trends in recent years has been the erosion of what used to be local government's flagship service: bin collections. The rise of fortnightly collections, a boom in draconian fines and an encroaching culture of absurd health and safety have left millions frustrated at being treated like obstacles or even offenders rather than valued customers. In Ormskirk, though, binman Albert Stewart decided to fight against that, and went out of his way to be helpful - clearing up litter, accepting extra bags of rubbish that wouldn't fit into the bin and generally providing a good service. His reward for going above and beyond the call of duty, though, has been a disciplinary proceeding that has seen him removed from the round that he has worked for 30 years. If like us you're outraged at the way Albert has been punished for doing the right thing, you can write to the council official in charge of the relevant department to complain. Our colleagues at sister organisation Big Brother Watch have the relevant information here.  
 
Let your local paper know about the TPA
 
We got a great email recently from a supporter in Scotland, James Beeley, who sent an email to his local paper about our Town Hall Rich List to alert them to the TPA's findings. On the back of that, they wrote up the figures on the senior staff at their local council in a prominent story. Well done, James! This is a great example of why it's always worth flagging up our reports and research with your local press, particularly when they include figures specific to your local area. The more they hear the message, the better!
 
Best of the blogs
European Union: Beyond Repeal II  
European Union: Sons of the Navigator  
Better Government: The Highways Agency: Getting to grits with contractors  
Burning Our Money: Pruning the public sector pay bill  
 
 

Posted by Britannia Radio at 14:06