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TaxPayers' Alliance leading the charge
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It's been another incredibly busy and productive week in the TPA office. It's fair to say that nearly every taxpayer in the land would have read or heard about our work. As well as multiple appearances on national and local radio, the TaxPayers' Alliance received an abundance of coverage in 5 of the 6 major national newspapers.
We will not relent in our mission to reform taxes and public services, eradicate wasteful spending and speak up for British taxpayers. But we couldn't do it without your continued support. Thank you from everyone at the TPA.
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Teaching union bosses share £1 million pay pot
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We kicked off the week with a damning exposé of the huge sums paid to public sector union bosses. As the TUC's annual congress got underway we revealed that the average remuneration of the top 29 public sector union bosses was £153,935 in 2019.
Education union bosses topped this year’s "Rich List", with six senior staff sharing £1,296,869 between them. The figures come after teaching unions opposed the reopening of schools, including the recent threat of strikes.
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Mike Graham of talkRadio praised our research calling it "great work". But he was livid at union bosses, branding them "champagne socialists."
Asked onto the show our research director Duncan Simpson didn't hold back, calling out the "galling" sums and in the case of the British Medical Association, "members cash is spent on increasingly inane topics which don't have any relevance to NHS staff". Click here to watch the must-see interview.
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In resisting the return to the classroom, during what is a testing time for parents, the teaching union barons are costing the country dear. Taxpayers have had enough lectures from loaded union leaders, claiming to represent the workers earning a fraction of their bumper pay packets.
Hypocritical union heads should be making the same sacrifices as everyone else, cutting back these whacking great wages and contributing to the national effort against covid-19. The TaxPayers' Alliance is holding them to account.
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Bumper bill for BBC bigwigs
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From one rich list to another as the BBC made public the sky-high salaries paid to corporation execs and 'stars' this week. Presenters such as Zoe Ball, Graham Norton and Fiona Bruce all received bumper pay rises despite the Beeb stripping millions of over-75s of their free TV licences.
But BBC bosses are also cashing in. Our BBC Rich List revealed that mega-salaries for senior executives cost licence fee payers a total of £37.5 million in 2019-20. The median salary of a BBC employee is 83 per cent higher compared to the rest of the country.
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The news rightly provoked outrage and it wasn't long before the TPA was heard loud and clear on the airwaves once again. Our chief executive John O'Connell gave the BBC both barrels on Julia Hartley-Brewer's talkRadio show, telling listeners "The BBC doesn't understand the country it seeks to represent."
The same day, Duncan Simpson also added his insight on Dan Wootton's show to further drive home the message. And we didn't just crowd out the airwaves - our comments filled numerous column inches in Britain's biggest newspapers, including The Times, The Sun, Daily Express and Daily Mail.
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This wall-to-wall coverage means the BBC can't ignore our calls any longer. The Beeb must put an end to golden pay packets for loaded luvvies which are paid for by pensioners and hard-pressed taxpayers.
Brits are fed up of forking out for the licence fee under pain of imprisonment. It’s high time we axed the TV tax, introduced a subscription service and stopped taxpayers’ money going to these media millionaires.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Driving taxpayers round the bend
The Telegraph recently revealed that 11 bosses at Highways England claimed nearly £160,000 in expenses for 2019-20. Ironically over £100,000 was spent on rail fares with a further, £26,087 on hotels and £14,045 in "other travel and subsistence allowances."
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Asked for comment John O'Connell didn't hold back, “These figures are totally indefensible and will drive taxpayers round the bend. These are already some of the best paid public sector workers in the country. Expenses at this level are therefore completely unnecessary. Highways England should focus on the three quarters of households who have a car and stop feathering their own nests."
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Happy holidays for council staff
Angus council has managed to plumb new depths when it comes to taking the mickey out of taxpayers. The Scottish Daily Mail reported that "Angus Council is giving more than 4,500 employees an additional day off to thank them for performing their duties during the coronavirus crisis." The cost to ratepayers will be £46,000 in addition to services disruption and schools shutting early.
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Expressing her anger to journalist Mark Howarth, TPA media campaign manager Danielle Boxall said, "Giving council workers an extra day off is an insult to taxpayers already facing a huge tax bill. Angus Council needlessly handing out holidays is made worse by the looming recession in which many residents face losing their livelihoods."
Instead of putting their feet up and patting themselves on the back, council employees should be putting residents first and pulling out all the stops to help those devastated by the covid crisis.
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You are invited: Spectator Alternative Conference
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With physical political party conferences cancelled, events are moving online. The Spectator magazine is bringing together politicians, academics, think tanks and members of the public to discuss a year that has fundamentally changed Britain, and where we go from here.
The TaxPayers' Alliance is taking part with a discussion on How do we clean up the state? The quangocracy has grown to record levels, employing hundreds of thousands of staff and costing more than £206 billion. The TPA has shed light on the need to clean up the state by ending taxpayer-funded lobbying; balancing public appointments, with diversity of opinion paramount; and slashing back the web of quangos and public bodies that quietly dominate every aspect of our lives.
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This panel discussion will look at ways we can overhaul both the public appointments system and take back control of the quangocracy. The event takes place on Tuesday 29th September, from 5.45pm- 6.15pm and speakers include:
- John O’Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance (chair)
- James Frayne, Founding Partner of Public First
- Douglas Carswell, former Member of Parliament for Clacton
- Madeline Grant, Assistant Comment Editor of the Daily Telegraph
To register for the event, please visit: https://tv.spectator.co.uk/event/how-do-we-clean-up-the-state - I do hope you can join us for what promises to be a fascinating discussion.
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Raising the roof: cuts in stamp duty should be permanent
Writing for the blog this week, TPA digital campaign manager Joe Ventre analyses the effects of the recent cut on stamp duty to the housing market. He writes, "Data from property portal Rightmove found that demand for housing was sharply up across the UK, by 61 per cent compared with last year. The rise in demand was highest in the East and South-east of England, where property tends to be more expensive. The cut undoubtedly got the market moving again."
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This confirms what the TPA has said since 2013 with our Stamp Out Stamp Duty campaign. We pointed out that the tax was almost universally unpopular with economists, bunging up the market and preventing hundreds of thousands of people from moving home. All of which, of course, is true today.
Despite some positive signs, the economy is teetering on the brink. That's why we're urging chancellor Rishi Sunak to be bold in the upcoming Budget. The country will need tax cuts more than ever and taxpayers will thank him for it. Click here to read more.
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The TPA has repeatedly warned councils against setting up energy firms. As I wrote back in May many local authorities have lost millions in the highly competitive energy market. So it came as no surprise when Nottingham City Council announced that its taxpayer-funded Robin Hood Energy company had crippling debts of more than £60 million.
Consequently the council is planning huge cuts to services and as our research for The Times showed the city of Nottingham has the fourth-highest council tax rates in England.
With mayor of London Sadiq Khan having recently launched London Power, we urge him to think again before it's too late. Like its forerunners, it promises cheaper and greener energy. On no account should anyone hold their breath. It may well end up costing taxpayers a small fortune. |
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Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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