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TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 12th August - Quango Credit Cards Uncovered - Let Them Eat Carbon - Riots in British Cities - Parking Charges in Hull - Grassroots Growing Quango credit cards uncovered There have been a number of stories this week about the bills quangos have been racking up on taxpayer funded credit cards. Yesterday our research revealed what the controversial Equality and Human rights Council (EHRC) have been spending our money on. The quango used their government issued procurement cards for spending on fancy-dress, exclusive hotels and restaurants, first class rail travel and light therapy for acne among other things. Most worrying of all was the large amount of money that the EHRC spent on lobbying political parties. It’s completely unacceptable for taxpayers’ money be used by one arm of Government to lobby another. This practice was meant to have been stopped but these figures suggest otherwise. The revelations of this wasteful expenditure will come as no surprise considering the National Audit Office has repeatedly refused to sign off the EHRC’s full accounts. We believe the EHRC should be scrapped and we have long campaigned for it to be abolished. Last year we wrote to the Home Secretary calling for her to get rid of this wasteful quango in a joint letter with Douglas Murray, then at the Centre for Social Cohesion. Last week the think tank Civitas joined the chorus of names demanding an end to the EHCR finding it contributed very little to meaningful equality in Britain. Meanwhile another quango has come under the spotlight this week. The National Police Improvement Agency was subject to a forensic examination of its credit-card spending. The Daily Mail revealed examples of the agency's spending on amphibious duck tours, commemorative coins and five star hotels. These stories demonstrate the problem with un-elected and unaccountable quangos. The Government promised a bonfire of quangos and with wasteful spending like this it can’t come soon enough. Let them eat carbon In a new book - out next Thursday 18 August - Let them eat carbon - TPA Director Matthew Sinclair looks at the ruinous price people are paying for attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions; how ineffective the individual policies and draconian targets are; and the special interests that profit. We have set up a page on our website if you want more information, with updates on articles about the book and relevant news stories. It is available to pre-order with a discount on Amazon now. This coming Monday 15 August, the Freedom Association are holding a special advance event about the book. You can register for a free ticket atthis website, or register as attending on Facebook. Riots in British cities Hopefully you are all okay after the terrible riots in a number of British cities over the last week. In the short term, the TPA has been involved highlighting, for example, the cost to taxpayers everywhere for rightly compensating those whose homes or businesses have been damaged. We argued that as much of the cost as possible should be borne by those doing the rioting, for example some councils are planning to kick them out of council housing, and the insurance industry should pay their fair share as well, which thankfully it looks like they are going to. There is also a debate about the causes of the riots, with some like mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone suggesting spending cuts are to blame. TPA Director Matthew Sinclair wrote a detailed article for theConservativeHome website about academic research into the circumstances in which riots are more likely, which sets out evidence suggesting that isn't the case. Parking Charges in Hull Hull & East Riding Coordinator, Andrew Allison, has recently launched a petition on Hull City Council's website calling for abolition of on-street parking charges in the city centre on Sundays. Although many of the car parks in the city centre are free on Sundays, the normal on-street charges of £1.30 an hour (up to a maximum of £2.60 for a two hour stay) remain in place. Most of these spaces remain empty and local traders have said this is having a detrimental impact on their businesses. If we can get 1,500 signatures, the issue will be debated during a full council meeting. If you live, work, or study in the city, you can sign the petition, by clicking here. Grassroots Growing Many thanks to supporters who have come forward in the past week to help us in our campaigns. Without the information you provide, the freedom of information requests you submit, and the recruitment leaflets you deliver, our job would be much harder. If you have some free time and would like to deliver some of our recruitment leaflets, or would like a copy of our freedom of information template, or have some information you think would be useful, please get in touch. Your help, as always, is greatly appreciated. Best of the Blogs Burning Our Money: NON-JOB OF THE WEEK - Non-job of the week has a distinct climate change feel to it Economics 101: WHY HAS THE US BEEN DOWNGRADED FROM AAA AND NOT THE UK, AND WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR US? - Matt Sinclair looks at the news that US sovereign debt has been downgraded from AAA to AA+, and the implications for Britain Grassroots: MORE COUNCILS TO SHARE SERVICES - Why its important that councils are moving towards sharing more services Grassroots: SOUTH-WEST GHOST TOWN THREAT - Tim Newark looks at attempts to improve parking provision to stop town centres becoming ghost towns Burning our Money: THE SCANDAL OF REWARDING THUGS MUST STOP- Sending criminals to Alton Towers is just plain wrong