The ever rising tax burden

Ahead of the general election we revealed <[link removed]> that whoever emerged victorious the tax burden will be higher than it has been under almost any post-war prime minister. Our analysis ranked each post-war British prime minister by their effect on the tax burden <[link removed]> (national account taxes as a proportion of GDP).

Boris Johnson has presided over the highest tax burden of any Conservative leader on record, at 34.4 per cent of GDP. Conservative manifesto commitments mean this is set to rise to an average of 34.7 per cent of GDP by 2023-24. 

Jeremy Corbyn wanted to impose the highest tax burden ever recorded (37.3 per cent of GDP), even higher than it was under Clement Attlee in the aftermath of the second world war (35.8 per cent of GDP).

Looking back in time we see that Winston Churchillreduced the tax burden more than any other post-war prime minister, while Harold Wilsonpresided over the largest increase.

We are calling on the prime minister to cut taxes and start getting the burden back to the levels of his post-war predecessors. Politicians of all parties should never forget that tax cuts are popular with voters; as we have seen with corporation tax (among others), revenues often increase as a result of greater investment into the economy. There are promising signs that Boris wants to reduce the tax burden. His chancellor, Sajid Javid will likely cut national insurance at the Budget in February.

Let me know your thoughts on the tax burden. <mailto:[email protected]>

TaxPayers' Alliance in the news

The papers on talkRadio

On Tuesday morning our chief executive John O'Connell was a guest on Julia Hartley-Brewer's breakfast show to discuss the day's big news stories. Alongside barrister and political commentator Bobby Friedman, they covered everything from the general election, the BBC licence fee and how the NHS compares to healthcare in other countries. Click here to listen to a clip. <[link removed]>

<[link removed]>

Axe the tax

During the election campaign prime minister Boris Johnson hinted that he has plans to axe the BBC licence fee <[link removed]>. Mr Johnson remarked that a lot of court time is spent prosecuting people for failing to pay the fee. Commenting on the story for the Daily Express our media campaign manager Sam Packer said:

"The licence fee is a hangover from a past media age, before the advent of streaming services and catch-up telly. It's high time that politicians acknowledged the problems in the system and put a stop to this annual poll tax, bringing the BBC model into the 21st century."



It is worth remembering that polling <[link removed]> we conducted over the summer showed 68 per cent of C2DE (working class) voters backed abolishing the licence fee.

We're hiring!

We are looking for a new Digital Campaign Manager. If you can create graphics, edit videos and manage multiple social media accounts and you believe taxes should be lower, apply now!

<[link removed]>

Click here to find out more about the role. <[link removed]>

Blog of the weekThe end of retro-socialism?

The election is over after what felt like a very long campaign and voters have overwhelmingly rejected Jeremy Corbyn's socialist manifesto. Writing for the blog this week, media campaign manager Sam Packer argues that there are still battles to be won for taxpayers <[link removed]>:

"...we should not be complacent, the Conservatives were not pushing radical free-market reforms. Under their plans the tax burden will still be at its highest since Clement Atlee was prime minister.



"Yesterday’s result may have been a blow to socialism, but it was not an unadulterated victory for liberty either. Instead it was a win for tax cuts on working people - encapsulated by the Conservative tax triple lock and national insurance cut. These things should be the focus of taxpayer champion groups like us over coming months."

Let me know your thoughts on the election result. <mailto:[email protected]>

War on WasteIt's criminal!

A freedom of information request has caught the Hampshire police and crime commissioner (PCC) red handed <[link removed]> splashing out £51,000 on promotional merchandise since 2012. The police have purchased thousands of trolley tokens, pens, wristband, stress balls and other novelty merchandise to engage and consult with as many members of the public as possible. Despite this PCC Michael Lane said that the police were underfunded by £47 million and is reportedly begging central government for more money. 

Our chief executive John O’Connell told the Mail on Sunday: "Taxpayers want to see every penny of their hard-earned taxes spent putting more bobbies on the beat, not paying for trinkets. Clearly there is more fat left to trim despite what officials say.’

The police should be using every resource at their disposal on frontline policing not fleecing taxpayers.

<mailto:[email protected]>Let me know your examples of wasteful spending. <mailto:[email protected]>



Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign ManagerDonate to the TaxPayers' Alliance <[link removed]>



-=-=-
TaxPayers' Alliance - 55 Tufton St, London SW1P 3QL, United Kingdom
This email was sent to [email protected]. To stop receiving emails: [link removed]
TaxPayers' Alliance is a trading name of The TaxPayers' Alliance Limited, a company incorporated in England & Wales under company registration no. 04873888 and whose registered office is at 55 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3QL.

-=-=-

Created with NationBuilder - [link removed]