It's been another very busy and very successful week at the TaxPayers' Alliance. The launch of GB News has got Westminster abuzz - so we didn't delay in making our voice heard on Britain's airwaves. In fact, I'm delighted to say that the TPA was the first think tank to be invited onto the news channel.
And we kicked things off with a subject that is dear to many taxpayers' hearts, overseas aid spending. Ahead of the channel's launch, our media and research teams had been working on the segment for GB News to highlight how your money is wasted.
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In discussion with presenter Michelle Dewberry, our chief executive John O'Connell set out why so many Brits are fed up with ineffective aid spending: "There are rules about how we distribute international aid money. A country must have a gross national income per head of below around $12,200 a year. But what that actually ends up happening in countries such as Mexico, Malaysia and China, is that there are regions within those countries that are much better off than regions in Britain."
Michelle Dewberry heartily agreed with John and even referenced by name our War on Waste campaign. Consequently, this is set to be a regular weekly feature every Monday night on GB News. So make sure you tune in for the TPA's in-depth analysis showing where taxpayers' money is being squandered and how we will stop it.
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Britain's council tax burdens
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Not content with one media hit on GB News we nabbed a second - as we analysed the affordability of council tax bills when compared to average income and house prices across local authorities. Millions of us bear the council tax burden but some households are hit much harder than others. Some less affluent areas face a higher council tax burden than many wealthy metropolitan London boroughs.
For example, Blackpool has the lowest average earnings in the UK at £19,808 but charges £1,998 per year in council tax on average – 10 per cent of the average salary. On the other side of the coin, Islington in north London has the highest earnings at £41,329, but charges £1,640 in council tax, making it the fifth lowest council tax burden.
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Though council tax is paid from our incomes, as our interactive heat maps clearly show, differences were seen when comparing council tax bills and local house prices. While households pay on average 0.81 per cent of their house price in council tax, some areas such as Hyndburn saw this rise as high as 2.18 per cent of the average house price.
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It wasn't just GB News that featured our unique research, it was also published in the Daily Express newspaper and online, reaching millions of people in the process.
Ratepayers in less affluent areas are facing bills way above the odds. Endless rises have to stop, especially in areas that can barely afford to pay as it is. To pay for essential services while limiting the growth of this tax burden, we are calling on local authorities to stop council tax rises and cut down on wasteful spending by scrapping pet projects and pay rises for town hall executives.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Stonewall and the problem with taxpayer-funded campaigning
There was even more hard-hitting research from the TPA team as we revealed the charity Stonewall - which recently hit the headlines over its political activism - received at least £2,616,102 in government grants between 2015-16 and 2018-19.
We are calling for an end to the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, so public money is not used to distort political decision-making by advancing policy positions taxpayers may seriously disagree with.
Our research was soon creating more headlines as The Times published our findings.
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Consequently we secured an exclusive op-ed with The Spectator explaining our investigation. John O'Connell perfectly highlighted why this funding should be stopped:
"...when an organisation is receiving almost three quarters of its grants from the very policymakers it’s trying to influence – with all the resources, legitimacy and access that provides – something is going wrong... It’s a vicious cycle, with recipient groups better resourced to go back and demand even more cash for themselves and their pet projects."
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I'm pleased to say that our research received a very positive response from politicians. Not only were they Tweeting about it but a government minister contacted the TPA to commend our findings, saying, "You are doing an amazing job. Thank you so much."
Taxpayers are fed up with governments giving grants to campaigners who lecture and lobby. That's why we urge ministers to put a stop to the grants and schemes which support this maddening merry-go-round.
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Lessons must be learned
The government recently published a long awaited report into the failings at Northamptonshire County Council after it went bankrupt in 2018. As I wrote for ConservativeHome this week despite senior staff receiving at least £2.8 million in total remuneration for 2017-18, the report highlights the "cultural malaise" that engulfed the council.
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The report's authors went further, "A ‘group-think’ mentality had prevailed at the Council for many years, with senior officers and politicians inclined to pursue misguided courses of action while failing to accept the reality of the organisation’s predicament."
Of course, it was taxpayers who ended up bearing the costs of this catastrophic failure. The TaxPayers' Alliance is urging councillors across the country to ensure their council doesn't suffer the same fate.
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Tax breaks could be a boon for boozers and brewers
On Tuesday we raised a glass to Beer Day but now that covid restrictions are set to continue a while longer, a dark cloud is hovering over the industry. Our media campaign manager Danielle Boxall paid a visit to the Hogs Back Brewery in Surrey to discover how it coped during the pandemic.
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She sat down with the brewery's managing director Rupert Thompson to chat about the challenges hospitality has faced. It’s clear that without the support offered during the government’s national lockdowns, the industry would really be on its knees. But it was also undeniable that there’s a long way to go before pubs and brewers are fully back up and running again. Rupert says that the sector needs a couple of years before their balance sheets are fully recovered.
The government’s help so far has kept businesses from going down the drain, but there’s evidently plenty of work to be done to fix the way we tax the hospitality industry. This should start by extending the current reduced rate of VAT, and including alcohol in the cut to support a wider range of firms.
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What does the future hold for hospitality?
If like us you're keen to see Britain's hospitality sector bounce back then please join us on Wednesday for a panel discussion on the impact of the chancellor's VAT cuts and what the next few years have in store for the industry. Our panel of leading industry voices includes:
- Hugh Osmond, Founder of Punch Taverns
- Claire Bosi, Editor of Chef & Restaurant magazine, campaigner, and former Michelin starred restaurateur
- Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association
- Esther McVey MP, Founder of Blue Collar Conservatives
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Date: Wednesday 23rd June
Time: 12pm (midday) wrapping up by 1pm
How to watch: Click here
As always there will be plenty of time for your questions at the end too. But if you can't make the event please send me your questions.
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A fine mess
Taxpayers in Edinburgh have been left to foot the bill for incompetence after it was revealed that the council's tourism marketing company failed to file its accounts and was subsequently fined £1,500.
But what makes things worse is that the same thing happened last year! So the total cost to the taxpayer is £3,000. In the scheme of things this is a relatively small sum but more worrying is the attitude of this public body to taxpayers' cash. Let's not forget that due to the pandemic, firms were given an extra three months to file their accounts.
The TaxPayers' Alliance is putting councils on notice that this kind of ineptness is simply unacceptable and must never happen again.
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Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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