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As this year’s Tax Freedom Day (the day on which Brits start earning for themselves rather than the government) slipped to 18th June, it was clear right from the start that this wouldn’t be a good week for taxpayers.Â
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The latest government borrowing figures released on Wednesday showed the UK borrowed the highest amount in any May on record outside of a Covid lockdown. Our national debt is now larger than the whole UK economy for the first time in 60 years. Inflation also remains high, adding to the misery of those trying to make ends meet. As we struggle under the 70 year high tax burden, this is as much a cost of government crisis, as it is a cost of living crisis.
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Reacting to the news, our chief executive, John O’Connell, blasted the ongoing public profligacy, telling Sun readers: “The chancellor needs to get serious on spending and give himself room for tax cuts to provide much needed relief.”
Unsurprisingly, our team was called on to give Jeremy Hunt some tips for getting a grip on the cost of government crisis. Our media campaign manager, Conor Holohan, left viewers of TalkTV in no doubt that there’s still plenty of fat left to trim in the bloated budgets of Whitehall. As Conor explained: “Between 2018 and 2022, the size of the public sector grew by more than the total workforce of our biggest supermarket, Tesco!”
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In a blog post which takes a look at the parlous state of the public finances, TPA researcher, Jonathan Eida rightly points out that the situation may be even worse than the headline figures suggest due to unaccounted for liabilities worth trillions. “The public finances are in a sorry state”, according to Jonathan’s prognosis. Ministers need to sort out the books. As hard working taxpayers are forced to tighten their belts even further, it’s only right that they share that burden and put the brakes on these reckless levels of spending!Â
That’s why our work is so important. Day in, day out, we’re holding the government to account for the 70 year high tax burden and the squandering of taxpayers' cash. If you can back us today, click here to donate!
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Stop public sector golden goodbyes!
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Speaking of squandering cash, a TPA audit of government accounts has revealed the princely pay-offs being doled out by government departments. In 2021/22, over ÂŁ180 million was handed out in golden goodbyes to civil servants. 36 mandarins in the department of health received pay outs of at least ÂŁ150,000!
Our investigations campaign manager, Elliot Keck, slammed the shocking sums when he spoke to the Daily Mail: “While households scrimp and save, Whitehall fat cats are trousering massive exit payments.”Â
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Regular readers will know that we’ve long campaigned against these egregious payments and, despite initially backing our plan to cap the sums, ministers swiftly rolled over to the demands of bureaucrats and unions to allow unlimited packages!Â
That’s why we need your help to get these ridiculous hand-outs capped once and for all. If you’ve not already done so, sign our petition here and share it with your family and friends. The more people who stand with us, the more chance we have of putting a stop to these golden goodbyes!
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Hacking Whitehall
Data security is incredibly important for all of us and you might be forgiven for thinking that government departments handling highly sensitive information would be keen to keep their systems up to date. Unfortunately, a TPA investigation has exposed government bodies using outdated and unsupported systems, leaving them vulnerable to cyber attack and costing huge sums in upkeep, landing taxpayers with the bill. The very worst culprit is HMRC itself, meaning your taxes are barely getting out of the door before being exposed to waste.
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As John told the Observer: “This failure is exposing data to criminals and costing taxpayers billions in maintenance and incident management. Ministers must urgently commit to bringing the state in line with private sector standards, rather than wasting billions on pointless pet projects.”
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HS2 budget goes off the rails
It’s well known that we're no fans of HS2. Over the years we’ve highlighted the ballooning budget and regular delays. This week though, even we were shocked by the latest revelations showing that the project has already used up a third of its cash reserves!
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Speaking with Jacob Rees-Mogg on GB News, Conor gave the managers and ministers responsible both barrels telling viewers: “The government has been throwing good money after bad with this project. It’s moved from one farce to another and I think it would be better for taxpayers when they finally decide to scrap this white elephant.” Hear hear!
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Misinformation in South Cambridgeshire
Thousands of you have already backed our campaign against the reckless four-day week experiment in South Cambridgeshire, but the council’s claims of when it decided to pursue the policy and how decisions were influenced are now facing further scrutiny thanks to a TPA investigation.Â
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Despite the council leader claiming only to have considered the scheme after attending a conference, we now know that the chief executive, and four-day week PhD student, Liz Watts was already drawing up briefings for the council’s cabinet weeks earlier. As Elliot told the Daily Mail: “Taxpayers can smell a council cover-up from a mile away. Ministers should seriously think about stepping in to save local residents from the council clock-off.”
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The War on Waste Blog: May 2023
In this week’s blog, Elliot brings us his latest update from our War on Waste. From council jollies when rates are going up to pointless name changes of national parks, taxpayers’ money was wasted left, right, and centre!
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As Elliot says: “Needless to say, any council spending thousands on a jolly right at the moment that they’re planning on hiking rates doesn’t have the best interests of residents at heart.”
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The bankruptcy rich list
Over the last year, we’ve become all too familiar with the sight of a council issuing a section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy. Unbelievably, our team has revealed dozens of employees at the four councils who declared bankruptcy in the last 12 months (Croydon, Slough, Thurrock, and Woking) are on salaries of more than ÂŁ100,000!Â
With town hall bosses betting everything on black and ending up in the red, these local authorities must rein in pay for senior staff and focus scarce resources on frontline services instead.
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Benjamin Elks
Operations Manager
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