Coronavirus is having a huge impact on the economy and particularly jobs. To try and avert job losses the government introduced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which means it will pay 80 per cent of employees' usual wage costs up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
Incredibly, a number of Premier League football teams have taken advantage of the scheme in order to pay their backroom staff. They have seemingly done so without asking their first team players to take a cut in their multi-million pound wages.
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Backroom staff should be paid but many have expressed concerns about the way these clubs have gone about it. As our chief executive John O'Connell told the Daily Telegraph, “Football clubs should keep in mind that this money ultimately comes from taxpayers, and support should only be sought if it’s really needed to keep the ship afloat.”
Clubs aren't breaking any rules but surely they can ask their high earning stars to take a pay cut in order to fund the wages of employees that keep things running?
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Three policies for this testing time
Following on from the release of our policies to aid the government's response to the coronavirus, John O'Connell laid out our proposes in detail for ConservativeHome.
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He writes, "Significant fiscal repair will be needed in the coming years: debt levels will need to be brought back down rapidly through growth-enhancing measures and spending restraint. It is clearer than ever that sound public finances are needed during good times to ensure the country is ready in case of a crisis. Taxpayers cannot afford this pause in fiscal conservatism becoming permanent."
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Sadiq Khan splurges millions on 'woke' art
A freedom of information request by our media campaign manger, Sam Packer, has revealed that Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has doubled the city's culture budget to £22 million. These funds have been spent on such edifying projects as an "Asian queer film festival" and £500,000 on illuminated tree sculptures said to symbolise ‘the need for a whole system change'.
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Invited onto Mike Graham's talkRadio show, Sam pointed out that when violent crime is on the increase, hard-working taxpayers want the best local services not comically wasteful spending. Click here to watch the interview.
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BBC proposes broadband tax
On April 1st of all days the BBC proposed that the charge for the TV licence should be included in typical household bills such as broadband. You'd still be forced to pay the fee even if you didn't have a television and didn't watch live broadcasts.
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Commenting on this crazy idea, our political director James Roberts told Westminster blogger Guido Fawkes, “With the nation stuck at home, making use of our broadband, the Beeb’s spotted an opportunity to slap a TV tax on the internet.
"Not only would it be wrong to have to pay the BBC protection money to watch Netflix, a broadband tax would also be terrible for smaller providers, whack up prices and drive poorer people offline. Ministers should take this as recognition that the licence fee is simply not fit for the twenty-first century, and that a decriminalisation of the TV tax should be the first step to future reforms.”
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We've got another excellent series of blogs to round off your weekend. Sam Packer has written about how free markets have brought a plethora of televised sport directly into our homes. The suspension of football, rugby and cricket leagues has highlighted just how fortunate we are to live in such technologically advanced times. Read his article in full here.
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Our operations director Sara Rainwater, has taken her local council of Sutton to task about rising tax bills. In the wake of the coronavirus crisis the council leader sent out an email to residents trying to justify a hike of 3.9 per cent. The email primarily blamed central government funding cuts but as Sara points out it failed to acknowledge the many ways the council wasted money from artworks to award ceremonies. Click here to read Sara's Sutton report.
Finally, ahead of the release of this year's edition of the Town Hall Rich List, I've taken inspiration from former secretary of state for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles, and laid out a number of simple ways that councils can reduce their spending. More than ever, local authorities need to get a grip on their finances and concentrate on delivering the best services for their residents. Click here to read my suggestions.
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Gold plated pen pushers
Glasgow council is under mounting pressure to explain why it has spent an eye-watering £5 million on stationery over the last five years. The council splashed out on the likes of pens, pencils, and paper-clips despite agreeing to make £42 million of savings and hit households with a whopping 4.64 per cent council tax increase.
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I expressed my concerns to the Glasgow Evening Times, “With council tax rates in Glasgow set to soar, ratepayers will struggle to understand how the pens some staff push can cost so much. Spending millions on stationery equipment is an insult to taxpayers. The council should be trying to make savings wherever possible in order to keep council tax down."
Let me know if your council is wasting money.
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Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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