Well, this is it. At time of writing there are just 92 hours until polls open. In 107 hours, polls will be closed, and we’ll be awaiting the first results of the night. Many of you will have already made up your minds as to who to vote for. Some of your pencils will hover over different candidates before finally marking your cross. Some of you may, quite understandably, simply sit this one out.Â
It is not the job of the TPA to tell you who to vote for. We do not endorse any party nor campaign for any candidate. We simply try to make sure you have the information you need when you step into the polling station. With all that in mind, this week, courtesy of TPA research fellow Rory Meakin, we bring you our rundown of how the various manifestos tally with the priorities of taxpayers and which TPA policies have been included. Our very own Taxpayer Manifesto.
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On lower taxes, the news isn’t great. While the Conservatives pledge to reduce taxes in general, and abolish national insurance specifically, little is said about the overall tax burden, which is currently forecast to reach an 80 year high. Labour meanwhile promises to keep taxes “as low as possible” and not raise income tax, national insurance, or VAT. Their tax hikes in other areas make it likely we’ll see the tax burden continue to increase. The Green Party of England & Wales plan to raise £172 billion of extra taxes - by far the highest of the parties - while the Liberal Democrats propose £27 billion of net increase. Reform UK does offer significant tax cuts and a call for the economy to “become high growth, with high wages, and lower taxes” but, as we noted before, spending must also be reined in.
Looking at the future of the public finances, both Labour and the Tories publicly plan relatively minor fiscal changes. Though as we know, it’s often what they don’t say that we should be worried about. By contrast the Liberal Democrats propose to raise taxes worth 0.8 per cent of GDP to fund the same amount of net spending increases. Reform’s total a 3.4 per cent of GDP reduction in both spending and taxation. The Greens, meanwhile, propose increasing taxes worth a total of 4.7 per cent of GDP in 2028-29 and spending by 6.7 per cent of GDP, with the 2 per cent remainder being funded by higher borrowing.
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All this isn’t to say that there aren’t TPA policies in the manifestos. The Conservatives’ national insurance and stamp duty pledges are welcome, as are Labour’s planning reforms and pothole promises. Even the Green plan to make sure all forms of income is taxed at the same rate would be a positive simplification (though it would be better if they cut higher rates rather than increased lower ones). But undoubtedly, Reform carry the most TPA policies within their contract. Increasing the personal allowance, scrapping HS2 & ULEZ, and abolishing the licence fee all get a thumbs up from us.
In his write up, Rory gives a full rundown of what the parties are offering taxpayers and his analysis is well worth a read. Check it out here.
As I say, we’re not here to tell you who to vote for, we just want to make sure you have as much information as possible before it’s time to cast your vote. Whoever is in office after Thursday, you can count on the TPA to keep exposing waste and standing up for taxpayers. You can help support us in the coming weeks and months by clicking here to donate.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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HMRC's costly comfort
Regular readers will know that HMRC has one of the lowest office attendance rates in Whitehall. Staff are only required to be in the office three days a week, but some do not even meet this generous target. To add insult to injury, it's just been revealed that officials forked out over ÂŁ1million on fancy chairs that will likely see very little use.
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Speaking to the Telegraph, our investigations campaign manager, Joanna Marchong, rightly said: “Taxpayers will rightly question the exorbitant cost of refurbishing the taxman’s offices, particularly when the taxman so rarely seems to turn up. Instead of focusing funds on improving HMRC’s services, vast sums are being spent on the comfort of civil servants who can’t even be bothered to answer the phone.”
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Tackling the backlog?
The migrant backlog has been at the forefront of many voters’ minds recently. This has sent ministers into a panic as they rush through millions of asylum applications to achieve a key policy priority. The only problem is that they now have to redo those applications on account of them being poorly assessed.
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Appearing on Talk, our head of campaigns, Elliot Keck, hit the nail on the head when he said, “This epitomises the last five years under a Conservative government…they fail and fail and fail.”
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Siesta for Scottish civil servants
You might think that public sector workers could not dream of more perks. However, they are clearly never ending. The latest is a wellbeing scheme that allows Scottish civil servants to take an hour extra off work every week. Taxpayers will shell out ÂŁ9 million a year so that civil servants can do yoga and or have an hours kip.
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As you might expect, I didn’t find this news particularly amusing and told the Scottish Daily Express: "While public services continue to nosedive despite a record tax burden, bureaucrats in Scotland are literally sleeping on the job. Ministers should put a stop to this absurd scheme and focus on delivering for taxpayers."
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The truth about the junior doctor strikes
As yet another junior doctor strike got underway this week, in his latest blog post, researcher Shimeon Lee, has taken a look at whether their pay demands are fair or whether their current benefits are being under sold.
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As Shimeon writes: “Those fresh out of medical school can expect to find themselves in the top half of all earners while those at the end of training are close to the top 10 per cent.” As they demand a 35 per cent increase, “the BMA’s own estimate puts the cost of such a raise at at least £1.03 billion. That means £1 billion less for other parts of the NHS, like cancer treatments or hospital equipment.”
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This week, a TPA investigation revealed that the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office is looking to spend ÂŁ35k on curtains for the British embassy in Berlin. This exorbitant cost does not scream value for money to taxpayers.Â
Joanna had more to say about the absurdity of these deluxe drapes for diplomats: “ It's time to draw the curtain on extravagant government spending.” |
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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