After weeks of campaigning and millions of pounds being spent, the nation woke up on Friday morning to find the outcome of the election was almost exactly what had been predicted when Rishi Sunak called it back in May - a complete and utter meltdown for the Conservatives and a stonking Labour majority of 172.
As our new prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, addressed the country as head of government for the first time, the TPA team were listening carefully to see what his pronouncements might mean for taxpayers. While attempting to strike an optimistic and conciliatory tone, Starmer’s speech did little to answer the questions left by the holes in Labour’s manifesto.
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Our chief executive, John O’Connell, was on hand to remind the prime minister of the lay of the land for taxpayers: “With families and businesses already coughing up more than their budgets can handle, the priority for every part of government from Whitehall to town halls has to be spending every penny as efficiently and effectively as possible, while avoiding tax rises… Sir Keir Starmer will be judged by taxpayers on whether the precious resources they provide are used to fund frontline services, rather than being wasted thanks to sheer incompetence or on dangerous attempts at social engineering.”
The task facing new ministers cannot be understated. The tax burden is on its way to an 80 year high. Taxpayers’ money is being wasted left, right, and centre. Economic growth is anaemic at best. If Labour want to govern seriously, tackling these issues will need to be top of the agenda.
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While Starmer puts the finishing touches to his government and the Tories look set to embark on a prolonged and bloody civil war, the TPA are gearing up to be the country’s unofficial opposition. Just as we did with the last government, we’ll be holding Labour’s feet to the fire every step of the way and fighting for people like you up and down the country.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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The wrong track
Despite being massively scaled back, the white elephant that is HS2 is still set to cost taxpayers billions of pounds. Now we’ve learnt that over £232 million of compensation has been shelled out for now completely unnecessary land purchases.
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Elliot Keck, our head of campaigns, flew off the rails when he heard the news. Speaking to Mike Graham on Talk, Elliot blasted: “This is a classic of the genre… It speaks to the failure of forward planning. The government now admits the costs have trembled.” Watch Elliot’s full interview here.
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War on Waste: April - June 2024
In this week’s blog, our investigations guru, Joanna Marchong, brings us the latest round up of her war on waste findings for April to June. As ever, the powers that be continue to find new weird and wacky ways to waste your cash.
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From woke grants to business class flights, we’ve got the full rundown. As Joanna says: “While the last few months may have been bustling with promises of change, in the real world, waste has been running rampant! Naturally, as Britain’s waste watchdog, the TPA team have been keeping on top of it all.” Check out Joanna’s findings here.
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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