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This week the TaxPayers' Alliance partnered with Wetherspoons to distribute a quarter of a million beer mats calling for the VAT cut on hospitality to be extended. Our beer mats urge the chancellor to extend the current five per cent reduced rate of VAT, and include alcohol within it. Analysis found that doing this until April 2023 could save consumers and the hospitality industry at least £15.7 billion.
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So next time you pop into your local Wetherspoons be sure to scan the QR code on one of our beer mats and sign the petition. Thousands of people have already backed our campaign, make sure your voice is heard too!
As our media campaign manager Danielle Boxall explained in an op-ed for The Yorkshire Post, "The battles of the past year may be over, but British businesses, diners and drinkers still need our support after this summer. Extending the VAT cut is exactly that."
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Our Quids Inn campaign has received backing from industry leaders, from the British Beer & Pub Association to restaurateurs and publicans.
Tim Martin, chairman and founder of JD Wetherspoon summed the situation perfectly at a recent TPA event, "People often don’t realise the scale of taxes paid by pubs. Tax should be fair, but the main unfairness to pubs is they pay 20 per cent VAT on food and supermarkets pay nothing, and that puts immense pressure on pubs. This particularly hits less affluent parts of the country.
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The end of the pandemic may almost be in sight but we shouldn’t pop the champagne corks just yet as pubs and restaurants are still under enormous pressure. The chancellor must give British publicans and punters a well-earned break by extending the VAT cut, which will protect jobs and cut prices.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Benefit fraud costs taxpayers £2 million a day
The TaxPayers' Alliance was once again at the forefront of tackling fraudulent use of taxpayers' cash. The Sun revealed that couples are pretending to be single and living apart in order to boost the amount of benefits they receive. According to reporter David Wooding, "An auxiliary nurse from Sunderland stole £47,000 by claiming she was a single mum — but was rumbled when she announced her engagement on Facebook".
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Fighting the corner of taxpayers, our digital campaign manager Joe Ventre called on the government to act, "Brits are fed up funding feckless fraudsters. Ministers must ramp up efforts to clamp down on criminal claimants".
But the TPA didn't stop there! Speaking to Michelle Dewberry on GBNews, our research director Duncan Simpson told viewers across Britain just how bad the situation had become.
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When you look at the bigger picture, in the last financial year alone, total benefit fraud is estimated at £8.5 billion - a significant increase from the previous year. Duncan also rightly criticised "HMRC's inability to stamp down on these instances happening."
We're piling on the pressure to the powers that be to toughen up on fraud and save taxpayers a bundle in the process.
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Money for nothing - parliamentary expenses
Details have emerged that taxpayers were charged £46,000 so members of the House of Lords could pay tribute to Prince Philip following his sad passing. According to the Daily Mail, "Some 162 members of the upper house claimed expenses for the session on April 12, three days after the royal consort died at the age of 99. But just 65 of those who claimed spoke during the session, either in person or remotely. It means 97 billed the taxpayer for turning up but did not participate."
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Speaking to talkRadio presenter Kevin O'Sullivan on Wednesday evening IÂ was crystal clear in my comments to listeners that the "abuse of taxpayers' money and their trust" must stop.
The country can't afford to waste a single penny. The TaxPayers' Alliance will continue to call out politicians that cynically take money from the public purse. Click here to watch the interview.
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A wheelie terrible use of money
The Telegraph reports that "Britain's biggest bike lane" is so wide that it is causing problems for cars on adjacent lanes. According to journalist Dominic Penna, "The cycle lane installed in Wimborne, a Dorset riverside market town, is 11ft 2in wide, leaving vehicles with two lanes that measure just 9ft 5in." Dorset has been allocated around £500,000 of taxpayers' cash for 'active travel schemes'.
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Asked for my thoughts I was quick to call out this wasteful spending, "Taxpayers will be spitting feathers at this incredibly poor use of money. It's frustrating that these funds which were supposed to improve travel in the area have instead done the exact opposite. Those responsible must rectify the problem immediately, ideally at no further cost to the taxpayer."
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It's time to junk sin taxes
Yesterday was Junk Food Day and as Jonathan Eida writes for the TPA blog, suggestions of a carrot and stick (pardon the pun) approach by the government to take unhealthy food off the menu must be challenged. As he explains:
"The stick, in this case, is the sugar and salt tax proposed in the National Food Strategy. It comprises a £3 per kilo levy on sugar and £6 per kilo on salt in order to quash obesity around the country. The costs of this tax will undoubtedly reach even deeper into the pockets of the taxpayer, leaving them with a £4.8 billion bill each year."
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"The carrot, is another approach floating around the corridors of Westminster which is equally concerning. According to The Telegraph, the prime minister is attempting to launch a rewards-based system for good habits including eating healthily or going for a run. This may sound familiar. The Chinese Communist Party has in place a social credit system of a similar ilk. I doubt many Brits are keen to emulate China’s draconian policies."
The junk food debate is a microcosm of the choice standing before us. Are we to choose freedom and personal choice? If freedom is to exist in our country then we must fight for it. This includes the fight for personal responsibility with regards to junk food. Ministers must reject calls for more taxes on food, they don’t work and they make everyone poorer. Click here to read more.
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Communal barbecues see taxpayers' cash go up in smoke
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council has rightly come under fire after local residents learned that it spent more than £100,000 on 10 public barbecues that had to be closed due to poor hygiene. According to the Metro, "Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) council began setting up 10 electric cooking stations along a seven-mile seafront promenade in Bournemouth at the end of July.
But despite hopes to create an Australian-style beach atmosphere, expectations that locals would clean the barbecues after each use failed to materialise. So much filth built up that three of them had to be closed for deep cleaning.
Firstly, this is a ridiculous use of taxpayers' money given the current circumstances. Secondly, the cost of the barbecues seems astronomical and thirdly why didn't someone at the council see this problem coming? Examples like this are exactly why the TPA calls on councils to eradicate their wasteful spending for the sake of local taxpayers.
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The TPA is seeking a motivated waste campaign manager to lead our campaigns exposing wasteful public spending. The role will be based full time in the TPA’s Westminster office.
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If you've got what it takes then please email [email protected] with a CV and cover letter outlining your suitability for the role. We may not be able to reply to all applicants. Click here for more details.
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Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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