This week saw two important developments where the national debt is concerned. The first was definitely bad news for taxpayers but, with your help, the second might help us win the battle against debt.
So, the bad news. Shock figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the national debt has now hit a staggering 100 per cent of GDP. For context, this is the first time it’s hit this level since the 1960s. Borrowing for the current financial year is now £64.1 billion, £6 billion more than forecast. Clearly the new government’s spending spree is hammering the public finances.
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John O’Connell, our chief executive, issued a sober warning to our spending addicted politicians when he told Sky News: “With the debt now matching the size of the economy, this needs to be a watershed moment for all politicians, but particularly the chancellor, to recognise that the situation is unsustainable. Getting a grip of the national debt should now be a top priority for the government, with future generations set to be hit hard if it follows the big spending philosophy of its predecessors.”
Having been campaigning over the last couple of months, drawing attention to the debt through our online debt clock and roadshow, the people we’ve spoken to have been unanimous in their horror at just how badly we’ve been let down by politicians. To help channel that anger, we’ve launched a new petition which we’ll deliver to Rachel Reeves in advance of her budget at the end of October.
In a video to launch the petition, William Yarwood, our media campaign manager, told us exactly where the blame lies: “Politicians from both parties have allowed the debt to spiral out of control and seem indifferent to the consequences.”
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Our petitions and research help deliver real change in policy that puts taxpayers at the centre. When we campaigned against civil service payouts, thousands of you backed our petition. We delivered it to ministers and a cap was imposed on golden goodbyes. When Jeremy Hunt plotted an increase to foreign aid, TPA supporters rallied round and helped force the then chancellor to scrap his plans on the eve of the autumn statement.
As Labour politicians descend on Liverpool for their party conference, it's time to tell them that enough is enough, it's time to sort out the national debt.! Make sure you sign and share the petition with your family and friends. Help us leave ministers in no doubt about how strongly taxpayers, people like you, feel!
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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The Widow’s tax
Amongst the various proposals that have been touted for Reeves to announce in her upcoming budget, one that is particularly hard to justify is the scrapping of the single persons council tax discount. Rightly dubbed a ‘widow’s tax’ by the media, our research revealed that this plan could hammer those living alone to the tune of £549!
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Not only would this hit granny (or grandpa), but it undermines the principle that council tax is levied to pay for services - single-occupancy homes naturally consume fewer local services. As we explained to the Telegraph: “While such a change would constitute a simplification of the tax system, it would further increase the tax burden, which is already set to reach an 80-year high by 2028-29.”
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No, the NHS is not underfunded
For years, unions, the Labour Party, and do-gooders have been popping up to tell us how terribly underfunded the NHS is, despite spending on our healthcare system being at record highs (excluding the covid years). Well, hitting back and tackling the nonsense head on, our researcher, Shimeon Lee, used an op-ed for CapX to call out the scaremongering and highlight the real problems in the NHS.
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As Shimeon rightly says: “More day-to-day spending means less for capital investment, causing outcomes to deteriorate and even greater demand for day-to-day spending. To break the cycle, the Government must first rein in day-to-day spending. With public finances already in peril, the NHS cannot afford politicians peddling the fantasy that greater investment is possible without sacrifices elsewhere.” Have a read of Shimeon’s op-ed here.
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Sickly civil servants
Sick note culture has truly taken over the public sector and the newest reports are even more damning than before. While it may be common practice to provide a sick note for having more than 7 days off work, it seems this idea has passed the civil service by. 91,000 days were lost to sickness without any doctor's note being provided in the last year, according to our investigation.
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Speaking to the Daily Express, William blasted: “While Brits are forced to work harder to make ends meet, and pensioners face a challenging winter, bureaucrats are not even bothering to produce a sick note to justify their increasingly lengthy absences.”
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Why are our services so rubbish?
TPA researcher, Callum McGoldrick, certainly seems to be on a bit of a writing kick at the moment, bringing us another great blog this week. Hot on the heels of our recent research paper, he’s picked a favourite topic of the TPA - council bins.
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As taxpayers care about the routine, frontline services, Callum hits the nail on the head as he rails against the absurd proliferation and complexity of our bin collections. Giving some advice to councils, which is particularly relevant to the number of bins residents are forced to use, Callum rightly says: “Sometimes, less is more.”
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Joanna Marchong, our investigations manager, uses her latest War on Waste video to slam the ridiculous situation at the Department for Work and Pensions where benefit overpayments and fraud are simply being written off, leaving taxpayers with the bill. Have a watch here!
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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