Britannia Radio

Fantastic news this week - we are delighted to announce thatour campaign exposing the taxpayer-funding of trade unionshas been recognised with a major international honour. We have won the prestigious Templeton Freedom Award forInitiative in Public Relations. The awards are given to organisations from across the world which advance the cause of freedom by the American-based Atlas Economic Research Foundation. This is the third time the TPA has won an Atlas award; we picked up the Templeton Award in 2010 for our Public Sector Rich List series, and back in 2007 won the Sir Antony Fisher memorial prize for the landmark Bumper Book of Government Waste. It is really encouraging to see other groups around the world learning from the impact our work has here, making the case for lower taxes and better value for money.  - Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive

Local activists expose wasteful spending Taxpayers in South Shields have paid for flights from all across the world for magicians to attend a conference. Families in Sunderland coughed up for council staff to fly first class to Japan. Overall, taxpayers in the North East forked out over £400,000 on flights in the last three years. TPA founder Matthew Elliott has more in this Daily Mail article. This barmy waste of taxpayers’ cash was exposed by local TPA activists, adding to the work done by others in Hampshire and the Midlands. You can use this map to see which far-flung destinations have been visited using your cash. If you think you can help us in the fight to protect taxpayers in your area, please get in touch with our National Grassroots Coordinator Andrew Allison. UK tax laws discourage Olympic athletes Usian Bolt won three gold medals and broke a world record at the Olympics. Declan Pang explains why our tax system means he might not return to the UK to thrill the crowds. Government credit card spending continues to rise Despite promises to the contrary, the Government's credit card bill has risen to more than £1 billion - no wonder when so much is spent on fancy meals, iPads and trips on the London Eye.