We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new Write to Your MP tool, a vital resource that will make it easier for taxpayers to contact their representatives on issues that matter to them. Political engagement is crucial now more than ever, and with this tool, you can make your voice heard on the issues that matter most. You can find the full list of letters available here. All you need to do is put in your postcode, your email address and name and it will automatically send the letter to your local representative. 

With just days before the budget, now’s the time to take action. Visit our Write to Your MP tool today and tell your representatives that taxpayers deserve better. Together, we can push for meaningful change and ensure that our voices are heard loud and clear. Take a stand, and let’s make our message count!

If you like this tool, why not forward it on to friends or family so they can add their voices

We were overwhelmed with the response to the first episode of the podcast. We had hundreds of people listening, and dozens writing in with comments and suggestions. Thank you to all of you.

In this week’s episode, podcast host Duncan Barkes is joined by the TPA’s Media Campaign Manager Will Yarwood and special guest Henry Newman from The Whitehall Project. Henry talks about his project and about life as a Special Adviser to Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. There’s also chat about the cost to business of the Employment Rights Bill and Paddington Bear receiving a taxpayer-funded passport. Listen to the latest episode below. If you’re feeling generous, give us a five star rating!

It’s been a bumper week for the research team, with no fewer than four research papers dominating the headlines this week. First up came our briefing on the share of income tax paid by different groups. Incredibly, the top 1 per cent pay a whopping 29 per cent of all income tax, in what should serve as a warning to Rachel Reeves given her desire to come after the wealthy.

This was followed by jaw-dropping analysis of the current rate of fuel duty in the UK, revealed first in the Daily Mail and then picked up elsewhere. Despite over a decade of freezes, the price of petrol and diesel here remains higher than most of Europe. If the chancellor hikes it next week, it will cement this country’s shameful status as one of the most expensive places in Europe to be a motorist.

If that wasn’t enough, our research on councils’ property portfolios dominated much of the news coverage earlier this week. We revealed that there were 4,908 non-residential properties that spent time empty in 2022-23, showing just how incompetently managed many of these town halls are. These findings were covered by a host of local papers as well as The Times and the Express. Our head of campaigns Elliot Keck wrote about the research in Conservative Home and appeared on Talk to discuss.

Finally, our university rich list, trailed in the i newspaper last week was published, revealing that more than 10,000 university staff received over £100,000 in total remuneration in just one year, making their demands for more taxpayer cash look, frankly, greedy. This was picked up by The Times Higher Education among other places.

Scrap the hated death tax

As well as our agenda-setting research, we were also across the media responding to some of the big stories of the day. One of the major taxes the chancellor is targeting is the hated death tax, or inheritance tax. Our head of research Darwin Friend was quick to contribute to a debate in The Times on the topic.

As Darwin writes: “It’s a cruel, capricious, calamitously complicated levy which hits families when they are at their most vulnerable.” We think Darwin is spot on, and so do the readers - in a poll at the end of the article a whopping 71 per cent agree with him! 

The latest public sector clock off

Turns out massive pay boosts, gold-plated pensions, fewer working hours, more annual leave and more sick days isn’t enough for some public sector workers. Because this week it emerged that staff at Angela Rayner’s department are demanding a four-day week with no loss of pay.

Elliot pulled no punches when he told the Daily Mail: “Angela Rayner should take this opportunity to stand up for the British people and demand that civil servants do a full week of work like the rest of the country.”

Paddington’s taxpayer-funded passport

As our media campaign manager, William Yarwood, told The Sun, “While Home Office mandarins might find this amusing, ordinary Brits who are suffering under the department’s inability to control immigration or bring down crime won’t.”

Will new fiscal rules help taxpayers?

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced new fiscal rules that could reshape how the government borrows money, allowing it to include public sector assets alongside debt to boost infrastructure investment in the hope that this will increase growth. In this week’s blog, our former chairman Mike Denham dives into the implications for taxpayers, who are already grappling with the highest tax burden in decades. 

As Mike writes in what is a truly fascinating blog, “the prospective uplift to growth potential depends critically on which specific infrastructure projects are funded. Taxpayers have to trust that the government will somehow pick the right ones. Unfortunately, our public sector has proved to be poor at picking and delivering economically valuable projects in a cost effective manner.”

Check out the blog in full here