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ThinkTent 2024
Another year, another Conservative party conference, another action packed ThinkTent.
While the hype this year was certainly around the Tory leadership election and its four candidates, the fringes were still bustling with energy, and our ThinkTent was consistently full to the brim. From public sector productivity to local government, from personal responsibility to taxation, our events and fantastic list of star panellists covered it all. And stars indeed they were.
Let’s catch up on some star-studded moments...
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First up was all things local government, Cllr Robert Alden, leader of the conservative group on Birmingham City Council, answering the question, "can well run councils lead the Conservatives to victory?" He opened with a bang, reminding the audience that we were joining him on the first anniversary of his council declaring bankruptcy. That set the tone as he listed a litany of bad spending decisions and poor budgeting by the Labour-run council.
Robert made a clarion call to Conservatives in local government everywhere about the power of having a well run town hall, “What the Tory party needs to learn is that where there are badly run Labour councils vs well run Conservative councils, we need to be using those examples way more nationally to show the electorate that Labour destroy public finances and Conservatives deliver value for money and quality services.”
Next up, Sam Bidwell from the Adam Smith Institute spoke on why there has been a migration of young people away from the Conservative party and what can be done to win over this key future demographic. He proposed that the core issue was that there has been an increase in the number of people who are now working in regulatory state roles and a low risk population. The rise of the backroom bureaucrats!
Sam couldn’t put it any better when he argued, “If you want to capture the young people and the next generation, in the way that Thatcher captured the Essex man, you need to make sure that people are relying on themselves to make money from their own hard work.”
Given governments of every stripe are currently trying to suffocate smokers with a series of illiberal, anti-freedom policies, it was no surprise that this was a hot topic. Simon Clark, director of the organisation Forest, which campaigns for the rights of smokers, didn’t mince his words, when he said “this is coercion, plain and simple. It is designed not to nudge but to force people to quit which is a continuation of the bully state that the conservatives did nothing to reverse while in office.” Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Talking of personal responsibility and trust, how do we actually get the state, and politicians, to stop meddling in our lives?
A tough question for Andrew Griffith, shadow secretary of state for science innovation and technology, who argued that we need to, “go back to a proper culture both on an individual level and state level of accepting that there are risks and accepting that in a system that encourages risk taking there will be failures but as a Conservative party we need to be stoic in the face of that.” It’s a shame there aren’t more MPs like Andrew!
If you want to catch up on our events and see what our panellists had to say, make sure to check out the livesteams here ([link removed]) .
If you fancy chipping in to make next year’s an even bigger success, click here to donate ([link removed])
TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
Ministers are leaving our wine industry withering on the vine ([link removed])
As a Kentish man born and bred, one of the biggest changes in my home county during my lifetime has been the phenomenal growth of our wine industry. From a fledgling upstart just a couple of decades ago, English wine is now winning awards left, right and centre. Now given the success of this industry, I would have assumed that ministers were doing their best to support it. So I was shocked when one of our researchers pointed out ([link removed]) that only two EU countries have higher levels of wine duty - Finland and Ireland, both countries with no significant domestic industry.
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The average tax on a bottle of wine in the UK is a shocking £2.35. That compares to just 3p in France, and absolutely zilch in a host of other European countries, including Spain, Portugal and Italy. Speaking to The Times ([link removed]) , which published our findings, our head of campaigns Elliot Keck said: "The UK wine industry has gone from strength to strength in recent years, despite facing a tax system that seems designed to leave it withering on the vine. Ministers should be removing obstacles to growth for this dynamic sector and at the very least should avoid increasing alcohol duty any further.” I’ll drink to that!
Goodbye and good riddance to Amy Lamé ([link removed] and good riddance to Amy Lamé For eight years, Amy Lamé has been a disastrous Night Czar for London, overseeing a decline in the night-time economy while her salary soared. Thankfully, she's finally resigned!)
For eight years, Amy Lamé has been a disastrous Night Czar for London, overseeing a decline in the night-time economy while her salary soared. Thankfully, she's finally resigned! ([link removed])
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The Greater London Authority claims she supported businesses in the 24-hour economy, but Elliot writing for City AM ([link removed]) was less than convinced: "For anyone out in London over the coming weeks and months after 11pm, have a look round and see the evidence of that support. You’ll struggle to find it”. Have a read of Elliot’s piece here. ([link removed])
Three cheers for common sense ([link removed])
A few weeks ago, it looked like the Metropolitan police would adopt unisex uniforms which, as we have already learnt from male police officers in Gwent, are far than comfortable! ([link removed])
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Thankfully, after a review and a consultation of over 30,000 officers, the Met has refused to implement unisex uniforms. I spoke to The Sun ([link removed]) and gave a well deserved pat on the back to the Met for “siding with common sense over wokery.”
Blog of the week
This week our researcher, Jonathan Eida, takes a look at what could end up being the next scandal, involving footballer’s health. Footballers are known for faking an injury or two on the field but many of them do end up having a high proclivity for neuro-degenerative issues in the future with little support from the government or the football industry. He reckons that when this all comes to light, a public inquiry could be on the horizon and we all know how costly those can be for taxpayers!
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As Jonathan fittingly says, “The government and the civil service have a responsibility to taxpayers to lean on the football industry to save taxpayer money.”
Click to read more ([link removed])
War on Waste
To all those who made ThinkTent 2024 a success, from panellists to viewers in person and at home, a huge thank you from all of us at the TaxPayers’ Alliance. We could not have done it without you!
We look forward to seeing you next year!
Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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