Saturday, 28 August 2010

TPA Bulletin - 27th August 2010
TPA rebut IFS 'regressive' claim

This week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies released a report attacking the spending cuts in the emergency budget as regressive. Unfortunately, the way they measured it treated paying more money in benefits as the only way to look out for the interests of the poor. Matthew Sinclair, TPA Director, wrote for the TaxPayers’ Alliance website:

“Suppose you invented a policy, some kind of economic miracle, which doubled the incomes of the poorest ten per cent of families without the Government spending a pound. That would reduce benefit spending. It would also increase tax revenues from the poorest. The same method that the IFS are using in their reports would show the effects of that policy as horribly regressive, cutting spending on the poor and shifting the fiscal scales against them.”

In the same blog, Matthew also set out a practical case showing why chasing a “progressive” score on the IFS graph can lead to the wrong decisions for poorer people and regions, locking in dependency.

He also wrote about the issue on Conservative Home and his blog was cited on the Spectator Coffee House and the new blog of Mark Wallace, until recently our Campaign Director. Tim Montgomerie, the influential editor of ConservativeHome, described the paragraph above as the “best anti-IFS line” and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg made a similar argument in the Financial Times the following day, writing that:
“Imagine a workless couple living on £5,000 a year in benefits, currently categorised in the bottom decile. If we increase their benefits by £5 a week, they are £5 a week better off. In the language of the IFS, this counts as fairness, because overall the bottom decile has a little more money, and clearly it is a good thing that the couple have an extra £260 a year.
But imagine the government helps that couple find work. Now they have a shared income of £20,000 a year and fit into the fourth decile. This, in IFS-speak, is not fairness, because the government has not changed anyone’s taxes or benefits. The fact that this couple’s lives are better disappears from the statistics the very second those improvements happen.”
New EU-led road pricing?
How many road users have heard of the Trans-European Network – Transport or TEN-T? Well, the TEN-T is an EU project aimed at developing an international core network of integrated transport routes throughout Europe to “increase efficiency, safety and interconnectivity while reducing journey times and congestion”. Parts of the UK’s strategic road and rail network are classified by the EU as part of that TEN-T network and there is currently a consultation running, published by the Department for Transport, to “seek views about the methodology for reviewing the current TEN-T programme, its policy objectives and the TEN-T financing instruments”.
However a key component of the TEN-T – namely road pricing – appears to be missing from the consultation document and has been replaced with references to Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). According to the European Commission working document ITS will “contribute to environmental performance, (energy) efficiency, safety and security as well as passenger and freight mobility, and can help to connect TEN-T corridors and urban transport networks.” But if you watch this Youtube video you'll see that road tolling is a key element of ITS (and thus of TEN-T) and it looks as though road tolls are being considered as a way of financing the huge £755bn costs of TEN-T in the future.

The consultation closes on the 10th September and can be found here. If you are a road user and are concerned with the prospect of yet more driving taxes, then do make your views known by submitting a response!
Victory in Bridgnorth
After a fantastic day of campaigning last Saturday in Bridgnorth a little birdy has told us that the parking meter plans for the High Street have been ditched! So well done to those supporters of the TaxPayers' Alliance and Drivers' Alliance who gathered in the market town to distribute leaflets, put up posters and call on the council to "Axe the Bridgnorth Parking Tax". You'll be delighted to know we've received hundreds of responses and NOT ONE said that they agreed with the proposals.

It's great to see direct action making a difference, and this is a real victory for the residents, traders and visitors to Bridgnorth. Let's hope this result also warns other councils off taking similar measures to top up their coffers...

Speaking of people power, we had a fantastic response last week from those of you wanting to get more involved with our TPA local branches. Your details have been passed to our co-ordinators who should be in touch shortly. As an addition, we're also looking for activists who might be interested in helping a new Cardiff branch. Having recently launched the Aberdeen TPA it'll be great to have a Welsh outpost to keep an eye on local councils, quangos and, of course, the Welsh Assembly. If you think you can help get in touch - fiona.mcevoy@taxpayersalliance.com.
Best of the blogs
Better Government: Justifying their existence

Posted by Britannia Radio at 09:56