This week marked three years since the lifting of covid restrictions. After 18 months of government imposed bans and seeing our civil liberties curtailed, life could finally start getting back to normal.Â
To mark the occasion, we released our latest research, analysing how the UKâs fiscal response to the pandemic compared to other OECD countries. For all our spending, the UKâs was far from a world-leading effort.
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Our landmark study of covid spending among comparable nations has found that the UK was one of the worst performing out of the group, which includes the UK, Norway, Sweden, Japan, France, Germany and the United States.Â
TPA wonks found that the UK was one of the highest spenders as a percentage of GDP, was the highest spender on health measures and was above average in both âabove the lineâ and âbelow the lineâ measures. Including off balance sheet costs, the UK spent over one third of its 2020 GDP on coronavirus measures. Despite all that, we had the third highest excess death rate, making it one of the least effective spenders in terms of limiting excess deaths.
Of course, when ministers made the choice to implement lockdowns, it came with obligations to support the families and businesses whose lives had been put on hold, a point our head of research, Darwin Friend, made in an op-ed for the Critic: âOnce the government decided to shutter the economy, businesses and families needed cash, and needed cash fast⊠Speed rightly took precedence, at least initially. But this didnât give them carte blanche to unleash a tidal wave of spending covering every corner of the economy for the best part of 18 months.â
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In the GB News studio, the TPAâs head of campaigns, Elliot Keck, hammered home just how poorly the UK performed: âWe spent an absolutely vast amount of money. We locked down people for a year and a half and yet actually the result was that a lot more people died in the UK than other comparable nations. So we were one of the least efficient countries in actually preventing excess deaths.â
With the covid inquiry set to cost a over ÂŁ196 million, it is absolutely vital that we learn the right lessons from the pandemic. Sadly, the idea that simply throwing money at a problem might not be the answer seems to be the one thing the inquiry is determined not to say.
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Having taken a break during the election campaign, on Tuesday weâll be picking up where we left off and heading to Solihull for the latest leg of our Town Hall Rich List Roadshow.Â
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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The Kingâs speech
On Wednesday, we got the first Kingâs speech of the Starmer regime and itâs fair to say Labour donât plan to waste their time. From planning reform to rail nationalisation, there were a whole host of bills announced - check out Darwinâs helpful thread on X here.
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Responding to the announcements, our chief executive, John OâConnell, didnât mince his words telling the Daily Express: âWith frontline services on their knees and the tax burden heading to a record high, Brits were expecting bold measures to deal with the genuine crises at the governmentâs door. Yet despite positive promises on planning, this agenda is dominated by low-priority issues and nakedly disastrous proposals, from a race equality bill to banning smoking, a football regulator and VAT on private schools. The government should ditch the vacuous virtue signalling and focus on improving frontline services.â
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Money for magic
Regular readers will be familiar with the strange research projects and events that seem to qualify for funding from taxpayers but this one had us truly mystified. The Arts and Humanities Research Council has splashed out to support an event titled âWitching the Institution: Academia and Feminist Witchcraftâ. Two academics will perform âspells and ritualsâ at your expense.
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Naturally, we were having none of it. Speaking to the Telegraph, our researcher (an actual researcher, not a Gandalf cosplayer) Callum McGoldrick blasted: âThe AHRC seems intent on finding increasingly weird but not wonderful ways to waste taxpayersâ cash. Money should be focused on supporting genuine research projects, not wannabe witchesâ.
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Woke Wales
It seems like the diversity agenda has taken on a whole new form in Wales where the Senedd recently passed a bill to give funding to certain political candidates to promote diversity.
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William Yarwood, our media campaign manager, fumed to GB News: âElected candidates shouldn't be treated differently based on their characteristics, with this not only being an unfair burden on taxpayers, but also a violation of democratic principles. This preposterous policy should be chucked into the bin.â Hear, hear!
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London: our comatose capital
In this weekâs blog, Elliot has taken a look at just how badly London is being let down by Sadiq Khan and his cronies, particularly when it comes to Londonâs dwindling nightlife.
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Following the dismal lack of outdoor screening for last weekâs Euros final (sorry to bring that up again), Elliot calls out the absurd state of life in the capital: âItâs expensive, increasingly dangerous and letâs be frank, itâs now pretty dead⊠This is the deliberate result of our various layers of government acting like spoilsports at the first hint of fun and merriment.â Have a read of Elliotâs blog here.
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In her latest War on Waste update, Joanna Marchong, our investigations manager, brings us the curious case of how British taxpayers are paying for children in developing countries to be fed a diet of⊠bugs.Â
Few would argue against trying to improve the health of children in poor countries but is this really the best we can do?
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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