Mark Wallace

Wednesday

Mark Wallace

The EU must face cuts too

From our UK edition

This is a balancing act Budget. At every stage and on almost every topic there's a bit of good news and a bit of bad news for taxpayers. Spending cuts are (finally) on the way, but at over £30 billion by 2014-15 they aren't large enough, and there is plenty of dead wood that the Coalition intends to leave in place. Similarly, the rise in the income tax threshold is extremely welcome, but the VAT hike will hit the poorest hardest of all. And so it goes down the list of Government financial activities. Indeed, the theme the Government are keen to communicate is one of leaving no stone unturned, looking at every item of expenditure and every tax for ways to raise or save money....except for one area.

Wednesday

Mark Wallace

Budget 2009: The Budget nasties come to light

From our UK edition

Today’s Budget was never going to be a good one for taxpayers. With the recession exacerbated by a Government wedded to high spending; shooting for a record debt level; and unwilling or unable to admit that there is such a thing as public sector waste, the question for many was simply “How bad is it going to be?” Unfortunately, the closer one looks, the worse the answer seems. The TPA’s research team have been looking into different aspects of the Budget this afternoon to both put the Budget’s own figures into context and to investigate some of the small print of the Government’s plans. Predictably, more than a few Budget Nasties have reared their heads already. First, let’s look at the national debt.

Monday

Mark Wallace

Taxpayers’ money must not be used to fund hateful propaganda

From our UK edition

Last week, James rightly argued that, as a nation, we must be watchful of Islamists active in Britain, to make sure they are not providing logistical or financial succour to the enemy in Afghanistan or Iraq. As well as being alert to the ideological and military threat of Islamism, though, we need to make sure that we are not inadvertently supporting the growth of that movement. For example, it has long been clear than many Islamist extremists in this country are happy to fund their lifestyles through the welfare state, paid for by the British citizens whom they so despise. It is increasingly clear that British taxpayers’ money is fuelling extremism both at home and abroad.

Monday

Mark Wallace

A new approach to Euroscepticism

From our UK edition

As was reported over the weekend, we at the TaxPayers’ Alliance have teamed up with Global Vision to launch a new, joint campaign on the EU. Given that the issue of Britain’s relationship with the EU has been fought over so many times in the past, what - CoffeeHousers might be justified in asking - is new with this effort? The campaign, which will run up to the European Elections in June, will make a conscious break from the issues and language of Eurosceptic campaigns of the past. All the evidence points to the fact that no matter how accurate the sceptical voices of the last 40 years have been, their talk of vetoes, pillars and the acquis communautaire simply does not have strong enough traction with the general public.

Monday

Mark Wallace

Value for money?

From our UK edition

With recession tightening its grip, the taxpaying public are more concerned than ever about the size of the tax burden, the efficiency of public services and getting value for money from the state. It is for that reason that the TaxPayers’ Alliance has published the third annual Public Sector Rich List, which provides a full run-down of the 387 public sector employees from 140 different organisations whose total remuneration in 2007-08 was above £150,000. With ordinary people footing the bill not only for these individuals’ large salaries, hefty bonuses and generous pensions, but also for the services and organisations they run, the list provides a crucial opportunity for taxpayers to hold their employees to account.

Thursday

Mark Wallace

Poll suggests the public are against Brown’s spending splurge

From our UK edition

The TaxPayers’ Alliance has published a new poll today, carried out by ComRes, which gives an interesting insight into the public’s view of the financial crisis and the Government’s response to it. Particularly striking is the public’s view of the big spending, neo-Keynesian response that Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling have been emphasising in recent days. Far from being the vote-winning approach they may have hoped, their plan to spend more and borrow huge amounts to deal with the recession has the support of only 18% of the public. Instead, a strong 59% majority believe tax cuts are the best way to respond to the economic crisis, and 68% also want an “immediate and substantial” cut in interest rates.