Friday, 16 September 2011

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TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 16 September 2011

Trade Union Rich List

As the unions announced yet more disruptive and unjustified strikes we published our updated Trade Union Rich List showing just how well paid those leading the calls for strikes really are. We revealed the 38 trade union general secretaries and chief executives who received remuneration of more than £100,000 in 2010-11 (37 in 2009-10). While union leaders feather their nests, ordinary taxpayers face the prospect of disruptive strikes that could cripple schools, local government and transport networks.

You can read the full report here.

In a piece for the Huffington Post UK our Campaign Director Emma Boon deconstructed the myths that unions try to peddle about their gold plated public sector pensions. It was also revealed this week that an average private sector worker is now paying more into the public sector pension pot than towards their own pension.

Launching his new Daily Mail blog, our Chief Executive Matthew Elliott highlighted that taxpayers continue to fund trade unions who are working directly against taxpayers' interests.

TPA on Daily Politics and The One Show

Our Director Matthew Sinclair made two big television appearances this week, on theDaily Politics programme and on The One Show. Both of them concerned climate change policy, the subject of his latest book Let Them Eat Carbon.

On the Daily Politics programme Matthew explained how our household bills are inflated to pay for failing policies that aim to tackle climate change. He appeared in the prominent ‘soapbox’ segment before debating the topic live in the studio with Grant Shapps and Tessa Jowell. You can read more details about this story and watch clips of the programme on the Daily Politics website.


The second appearance he made was on the BBC's The One Show where Matthew commented on the rising cost of fuel bills and the flawed environmental policies that have caused them as one of a panel of four experts. You can watch that here.

If you still want to find out more, read Let Them Eat Carbon (available in paperback and now on Kindle).


The hidden costs of high speed rail

Today we have launched a new report looking at the hidden costs of the Government's high speed rail proposals (HS2). As public support falters Ministers have been making a series of rash promises in a last ditch attempt to increase support for this fatally flawed project. These promises contradict their plans and combine with other hidden costs to mean HS2 will cost the taxpayer £28.4 billion more than originally projected.

You can read the full report here.

This week Philip Hammond gave evidence to the Transport Select Committee and said the railways have become “a rich man’s toy”. Matthew Elliott used his new blog on the Daily Mail website to highlight our campaign against HS2.


Call to Action: Combining Income Tax and National Insurance

Back in March the Chancellor promised in the Budget to look at the prospect of combining National Insurance and Income Tax. Running separate systems to tax income adds cost and complexity to an already burdensome tax regime. The Treasury have launched a Call for Evidence on this proposal which ends this Monday.

It's your chance to let the Treasury know exactly what you think about these proposals. You can make a submissions via email. Read Rory Meakin’s article for some example answers to the consultation here.

Remember, as HMRC keeps telling us, tax doesn’t have to be taxing.

Grassroots

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council

We revealed that Rotherham Council has spent almost £10 million refurbishing its new council offices. This was on top of almost £3 million it spent last year on refurbishing the town hall. It has also given out loans of £5 million each to Rotherham College and Rotherham United Football Club, and an additional loan worth £750,000 to a local businessman who couldn't get the money from his bank. The council needs to find big savings in the coming years, it cannot justify spending vast sums of money on itself, and risking even more by acting as a bank.

We are sure Rotherham is not the only council doing this. If you know of other councils who are using your money in similar ways, get in touch with National Grassroots Coordinator, Andrew Allison.

Building our the grassroots

We could not do our work as effectively without you - our supporters. You regularly contact us with examples of waste, and give us ideas for future projects. You help make the TPA as effective as it is. As we move forward we need more eyes and ears around the country. Please help us further by sending this bulletin to your family, friends, and work colleagues, and encourage them tosign up as a supporter. We are truly grateful for all the help you give us, and by enlisting more supporters, we can scrutinise more councils and public sector bodies, drive down costs, and get a better deal for taxpayers.

Best of the Blogs

Grassroots: Non-job of the week - Fancy becoming a Political Assistant in Lewisham or Knowledge and Service Improvement Manager in Hackney?

2020 Tax Commission: Sunday Times says scrap 50p tax and raise the personal allowance - The Sunday Times joins the growing chorus of those calling for the 50p rate of tax abolished. It makes an important point that this should be done at the same time as raising the personal allowance helping the poorest

Campaign: Lord Hanningfield and Lord Taylor of Warwick released after serving only a quarter of their sentence - Two Lords who were convicted of expenses fraud were set free on Monday after serving barely a quarter of their sentences

Burning our Money: NHS clinical watchdog NICE wastes thousands on luxury perks with corporate credit cards - We exposed NICE, the body that makes decisions on which drugs are available on the NHS, has been spending your money on 5-star hotels and fine dining

Campaign: Crackdown on illegal sublets cashing in on council’s goodwill - If you can afford to sublet your council house, you don't need one in the first place, observes Liz Holliday

Posted by Britannia Radio at 17:30