Ministers inched ever closer to pulling the plug on HS2 Phase B this week, with guarantees only given that the first part, from London to Birmingham, would be built. The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, who was in government when it was launched, rightly said that costs are “totally out of control.” The first leg alone is currently forecast to cost a whopping £35-45 billion, up from a predicted £17.1 billion when it began. We did warn them. We predicted right back in 2011 that the first leg would cost a total of… £45 billion. Credit to our researchers, not so much to ministers.

Our team took to the airwaves, leaving the country in no doubt what we think: it’s time to bring an end to this sorry project once and for all. Speaking to Kevin O’Sullivan on TalkTV, our media campaign manager Conor Holohan slammed the number of HS2 staff earning six figure salaries, channelling the hopes of taxpayers that “some of these people on these ridiculous pay deals see a reduction in these salaries.”

After we dramatically revealed emails proving that the South Cambridgeshire District Council had been allowed to edit a report by the Bennett Institute into its 4 day week experiment, the original draft of the report was finally released. The results were damning. 

Multiple sections were removed from the report in a clear attempt to make the document more positive. In one of the most damning edits, a quote from a manager at the council was removed which said the trial had a “very negative impact on my well-being” and that she only turned a corner when she accepted “we don’t always have to deliver perfect work.” Our head of campaigns Elliot Keck has a helpful thread detailing the edits.

And in news that broke overnight, levelling up secretary Michael Gove revealed plans to ban 4 day week experiments in local councils. The devil will be in the detail, but this could be a huge win for residents and local taxpayers.

Follow our campaign here.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel recently revealed that the average public sector took almost twice as much sick leave as their private sector colleagues over the past year. A recent TPA investigation even revealed that civil servants take thousands of sick days without producing a doctor’s note.

In a hard-hitting op-ed in the Daily Mail, TPA chief executive John O’Connell spoke for the nation: “Sick note Britain is hobbling our economy, making public services unnecessarily expensive and forcing up the tax burden.”

We learned this week that Downing Street’s art and antiques collection has nearly doubled in value and is now worth almost £10 million. While this is good news, with the cost of government departments soaring, we should question whether holding onto this collection is worthwhile. 

When Sefton Council showed fun the red card and slapped a ban on kicking leather footballs at a local school, we were on hand to slam their misplaced priorities.  

TPA researcher Jonathan Eida told the Daily Star: “Taxpayers are fed up with meddling officials going hell-for-leather enforcing pointless rules.”

As Conservative Party Conference approaches, we learn from the Institute for Fiscal Studies that taxes are heading for an all time high, Conor writes. 

Unfortunately for worried taxpayers, despite his three predecessors attending TPA events at conference over the last few years, there will be one notable absence at Think Tent in Manchester: Jeremy Hunt.