How the TPA leads the way
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Unexpected praise from the BBC
It’s not every week we get to say this, but this week we received an endorsement of our campaigning model from (drum roll please)... the BBC! In a Radio 4 documentary entitled The Other Black Door ([link removed]) , our team are credited with ‘setting the narrative on issues such as austerity’, attempting to explain how ‘TPA ideas become government policy.’
Our long running campaign ([link removed]) to crack down on taxpayer funded, trade union facility time was cited as an example of our success. The BBC seemed to think this was a big secret! Of course, as regular readers will know, we were chuffed about this hard fought win and detailed it all in our Weekly Bulletin. Perhaps the BBC should subscribe to stay up to date?
It’s clear that your support goes a long way and achieves a lot. The TPA relies on the generosity of people like you and, as our chief executive John O’Connell makes clear in the program, ‘we respect the privacy of every single person who donates ([link removed]) to the TPA!’
As we know, our model of solid research, strategic communications, and sustained campaigning works. We’ll always keep fighting for hard-pressed taxpayers!
Starmer's aspiration
With Labour’s conference at the start of the week, the TPA were interested to hear what the possible future government had to say for hard-pressed households.
When Rachel Reeves pledged to push spending even higher, we immediately called out her calamitous conclusions. In the Daily Express ([link removed]) , John explained: ‘If the shadow chancellor wants to go for growth, she should fully embrace income tax cuts and set sights on the cost of government.’
When Sir Keir Starmer set out his stall, our team was glued to the television, breaking down his speech in a rapid reaction for the media ([link removed]) . There were certainly some encouraging words around scrapping business rates, home ownership, and aspiration. But sadly, as with the chancellor’s statement last week, ([link removed]) there was precious little in the way of sorting out spending.
Grassroots news
This week, I was delighted to join the Croydon Constitutionalists and Harry Wilkinson of Net Zero Watch for a discussion around Net Zero and how much it might cost you.
With previous TPA research ([link removed]) exposing the potential £115 billion cost of swapping gas boilers for heat pumps, this is a hot topic for taxpayers.
In Croydon, I railed against the unprecedented cost of achieving Net Zero, which the OBR thinks ([link removed]) could be a jaw-dropping £1.4 trillion!
TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
Making the case
The big topic this week has been the reaction to last week’s tax-cutting financial statement ([link removed]) . It’s no surprise that TPA spokesmen were all over the media.
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With many mainstream media commentators calling for the government to hike taxes back up, on Monday, TPA investigations manager Elliot Keck, made the case for calmer heads. Speaking to Sky News ([link removed]) viewers across the country, Elliot rightly argued that long term policy should not be dictated by short term market volatility.
Driving our argument home, Elliot highlighted the need to get a grip and tackle the reckless current levels of state spending.
Writing in the Daily Express ([link removed]) our chief economist Duncan Simpson highlighted the thing that was missing from the mini-budget: spending restraint. We all know that Whitehall spends far too much money. We don’t just have a cost of living crisis, we have a cost of government crisis!
Duncan rightly says that ‘working taxpayers know there’s no such thing as a free lunch ([link removed]) ’ and does what no one else in Westminster seems prepared to do - outlining ways to start curtailing costs. It’s time to cut out wasteful spending and prove the government’s economic plan is serious!
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When things had calmed down a bit towards the end of the week, Elliot was across our screens again ([link removed]) , this time taking our message to GB News viewers. As he put it: ‘If the treasury doesn’t get the cost of government crisis under control over the coming months and years, then it’s entirely possible that this won’t end happily.’
Dodgy degree crackdown
Off the back of TPA research exposing the worthless degrees ([link removed]) being flogged to unsuspecting students, it looks like universities may soon have to pay the price for pointless courses.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the Office for Students will soon start fining institutions ([link removed]) that fail to meet student outcome standards.
Clamping down on these courses would be a welcome way to save students and taxpayers money!
Blog of the week
Facing down trade unions
With fresh postal strikes announced this week and the trains disrupted yet again, the unions seem intent on making our lives a misery. Synchronised strikes are a challenge for any government, so I’ve taken a look at what the government is doing to tackle these militant unions.
These well-heeled union barons ([link removed]) must not be allowed to perpetually disrupt the lives of taxpayers and dictate government policy. We’ll continue to call out bully-boy union bosses!
War on Waste
Galling golden goodbye
It seems barely a week goes by without yet another council official lining up a mega pay off. In Hambleton District Council, where residents face ‘two years of pain ([link removed]) ’ with rising tax bills, the CEO is due to be handed a £225,000 payout!
When word reached us, John was quick to blast the bumper bung ([link removed]) giving the proposal both barrels: ‘Taxpayers are fed up with footing the bill for golden goodbyes.’
These egregious exit payments ([link removed]) must come to an end, and as Britain’s waste watchdog, we’ll always keep fighting! Contact me if you hear of any golden goodbyes coming up in your area! (mailto:
[email protected]?subject=re.%20Weekly%20bulletin)
ThinkTent
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This week, the TPA with our friends at the Institute of Economic Affairs will be decamping to Birmingham for the Conservative Party conference. We’ll be putting on the 9th annual ThinkTent ([link removed]) , where we’ll host leading politicians, business leaders, commentators, and journalists.
Across 18 events, covering topics such as reforming the civil service, the cost of living crisis, free speech, building a more pro-enterprise economy, and many more, ThinkTent is a staple of the conference!
To round off the conference on Tuesday afternoon, John will sit down and interview the chancellor of the exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, taking the fight for taxpayers directly to those in power!
If you’re attending the conference, please pop in and say hello. If not, all of the sessions will be live streamed and available to watch back later on thinktent.co.uk ([link removed])
Benjamin Elks
Fundraising, Operations, and Events Assistant
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