Westminster shenanigans once again took centre stage this week, as people in the real world struggle with a cost of living crisis and record tax burden. As the dust settled on the Tory antics, Boris was back on the stump on Thursday, admitting:
“The overall burden of taxation is now very high – and sooner or later, and I would much rather it was sooner than later, that burden must come down.”
Why wait, Boris? The TaxPayers’ Alliance was straight out of the blocks with the solution: bring forward the promised cut to income tax and double it. We launched our latest petition saying just that.
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There’s no good reason for the government to wait until the next election to deliver an income tax cut. Rather than more state handouts and spending promises, working households need the chancellor to give them their money back - right now.
Please sign and share our petition, so we can take this message straight to the Treasury.
We took the case out onto the airwaves, with media campaign manager Danielle Boxall telling GB News the Tories need to get a move on:
“When we’re seeing families facing a £1 million tax bill in their lifetime… there is a lot that the government could be doing that they’re not doing to help people with the cost of living.”
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And our chief executive John O'Connell did the same on LBC News, laying out a plan for listeners:
“To mitigate some of this cost of living crisis, what he could do straight away is bring forward the planned cut to income tax of 1p and even double it. Look, we’re talking about a 70-year high tax burden!”
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Tax-hiking ministers are running out of excuses. Last week, John argued in his must-read Daily Mail piece that:
“Lower taxes boost the economy, letting people spend where they see fit. You can’t tax your way to higher growth, and you can’t spend your way out of an inflation crisis.”
He was echoed almost word for word by the prime minister in his speech on Thursday, saying:
“The answer is economic growth. You can’t spend your way out of inflation, and you can’t tax your way into growth.”
With the focus shifting back to the urgent need to help struggling households, and Boris accepting that tax cuts have to happen, there’s no time to waste.
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Grassroots News: THRL Roadshow in Cardiff
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The latest leg of the Town Hall Rich List Roadshow saw us in Cardiff. Setting out our stall in the city centre, we were inundated with people wanting to speak to us about council fat cats. We received an overwhelmingly positive response and hundreds of local residents signed our petition.
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With 14 Cardiff council employees receiving remuneration in excess of £100,000, it’s not hard to see why so many taxpayers were so angry. The tour continues in a couple of weeks. Please get in touch if you’d like us to visit your area.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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(Taxpayers’) money to burn
On Friday, the Public Accounts Committee revealed that £4 billion worth of PPE procured by the government during the pandemic could end up being burnt, as it doesn’t meet NHS standards. In total, inflated prices and substandard equipment saw the Department for Health & Social Care lose a staggering 75 per cent of the £12 billion it spent on PPE in the first year of the covid crisis.
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Commenting on these shocking revelations, our research director Duncan Simpson dissected the situation for Channel 4 News, explaining: “there are consistent patterns across government whereby a lot of covid spending and other general government spending has been done very poorly indeed.” Click here to watch a clip.
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Civil servants continue to bag work-from-home swag
For many months we’ve been pointing out the huge bill that taxpayers are having to pay for empty desks in central London offices as civil servants continue to work from home. If they won’t use them, they should lose them!
Now, to add insult to injury, The Sun reports that staff at DEFRA have been splurging tens of thousands of pounds on ergonomic chairs, footrests and a “desk and sensory mat.”
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John O’Connell had some words for workshy of Whitehall, blasting: “Taxpayers don’t appreciate paying for empty desks, let alone work from home luxuries. Civil servants are still splurging thousands kitting out home offices while their expensive offices lie empty. Ministers must ensure not a penny more is wasted on bureaucrats’ home comforts.”
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Public sector pension liabilities hit £2 trillion
The latest Whole of Government Accounts, which were released this week, make for some alarming reading. As reported by the Mail, they show that public sector pension liabilities have reached over £2 trillion for the first time.
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Our media campaign manager Danielle Boxall didn't hold back in her comments: “These numbers are a wake up call… The government should stop kicking the can down the road and ensure that new public sector pensions are properly funded to protect future generations from footing the bill.”
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Rishi’s energy cost strategy is proven to fail
The chancellor recently announced a new windfall tax on energy companies in the form of a “temporary targeted energy profits levy”. As councillor David Taylor writes for the TPA blog this week, we have a Conservative chancellor implementing a Labour tax policy. The outcomes will be no laughing matter. His new tax has the potential to make things worse, not cheaper.
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Rishi has not taken any real steps to reduce energy costs; such as scrapping green levies. Under the system he has created, energy providers have no incentive to reduce what they charge, but instead have reduced the incentive to invest in alternative and more efficient forms of energy.
Instead of increasing production - the only known long-term cure to inflation - Rishi has picked the one fix proven to fail: Tax, borrow, spend. Click here to read more.
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NHS treats staff to private care
The Express recently reported that NHS trusts have been splashing taxpayers’ cash on private healthcare for their staff. More than £37 million was spent on treatments such as MRI scans and physiotherapy. The spending has raised huge questions about the hypocrisy of health bosses.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance is telling NHS staff to stop blowing our cash on private healthcare.
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Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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