Well, well, well. It was another desperate week for the BBC that saw the downfall of both the director general, Tim Davie, and the chief executive of news, Deborah Turness. Bosses at the Beeb were forced into a humiliating apology to president Trump while they were accused of doctoring his speech a second time.Â
While the Trump saga has dominated the headlines, the issues of bias run far deeper. From their coverage of trans issues to the Gaza conflict, Aunty’s one-sided reporting has been exposed.Â
And yet, households across the country are expected to cough up for the Beeb, even if they have no intention of watching it. Jonathan Eida cut to the heart of the matter writing for City A.M.: “Supporters claim the BBC enhances Britain’s global reputation and spreads our cultural capital. Yet the latest scandals show how its stamp of credibility has been used to whitewash terrorist organisations and amplify their propaganda. Licence fee payers do not support this… Bias has been embedded across the institution, approved and normalised by layer upon layer of management. Replacing figureheads only protects the machinery beneath.”
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Research director, Darwin Friend followed up in Conservative Home, rightly arguing that it’s time to ditch the anachronistic licence fee: “Organisations which provide a successful, desirable product will thrive. We simply have to trust that the British people ultimately value fact-based journalism… The problem with the BBC, is that no matter how far it falls, no matter how badly it fails, it has a safety net. The licence fee, or TV tax. Introduced when the BBC was the only broadcaster, and when its transmission could not be limited to only specified TVs, it made sense as a funding model. The fact that it still exists is farcical.”
The time is now to scrap the licence fee. It’s outdated, provides an unfair advantage to a discredited broadcaster, and penalises families who have no interest in its output often leading to those from the poorest households being hauled before magistrates.
With negotiations over the BBC charter and its funding due to get under way in the new year, now is the time to ramp up the pressure on ministers to ditch the hated TV tax. Write to your MP today using our tool and help end the unfairness of the licence fee once and for all.
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End This Nonsense of Taxing People To Pay Debt Interest
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With the economy stuttering (more on that below), podcast host Duncan Barkes was joined by Darwin, and economist and professor, Tim Congdon CBE for this week’s episode of a nation of taxpayers.
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Tim is one of the world's leading monetary analysts and advised the 1979 to 1997 Conservative government on economic policy. They discuss the lack of monetary understanding at the Bank of England and at the Treasury and what needs to happen to get the UK economy back on track.
Catch the latest episode of a nation of taxpayers on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
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The chancellor’s chickens well and truly came home to roost this week as unemployment soared to five per cent while growth from July to September slumped to 0.1 per cent and even turned negative in September. It’s almost as if massive tax hikes and ramping up borrowing at last year’s budget weren’t the best way to boost growth after all? If only they’d been warned…
But of course they were. And despite the warnings, all the indications are that reckless Rachel is gearing up to do it all again.Â
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Having briefed heavily that they’d launch an income tax raid at the end of the month, Reeves performed a spectacular u-turn on Friday and while this is certainly welcome, her refusal to countenance any kind of spending restraint leaves her desperately scrambling around to plug the hole she’s created. Everything from threshold freezes and fuel duty hikes to new property taxes and pension raids are on the table. And for what? So this government can dish out more of your cash on welfare payments.Â
Writing in City A.M. John O’Connell rightly blasted the absurdity of taxpayers being hammered just to fund increased spending on welfare: “A basic rule should apply: if thresholds for taxpayers are frozen, then benefit uprating shouldn’t be automatic either. If there’s no room to ease the burden on earners, there’s no room for new spending decisions.” If only this government could show an ounce of this kind of common sense, they might mot be in this position.
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Callum McGoldrick has really hit the ground running and his double whammy of investigations this week might just make you spit out your cornflakes.Â
While ministers are spending their time coming up with new and inventive ways to squeeze more out of British taxpayers, adding layers of complexity to what is already the world’s longest tax code, they’ve also handed ÂŁ20 million to Ethiopia to train tax collectors and help them simplify the system there to make it more “business-friendly”.Â
Speaking to the Telegraph, Callum hit the nail on the head telling readers: “It is staggering that the FCDO is spending millions of pounds of hard-working taxpayers’ money to make a foreign country more attractive to businesses, especially when our own Government is making life ever harder for British businesses… Perhaps the Treasury would be a better recipient of aid to simplify our own tax code.”
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Callum’s findings caught the attention of GB News, with Mark Littlewood, director of Popular Conservatism taking to the studio with Jacob Rees-Mogg to discuss the story. In case you missed it, Mark recently appeared on a nation of taxpayers discussing the need for radical thinking to stop a borrowing and spending economic disaster. As always, you can catch the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
Next up, Callum revealed that we’ve given £19 million to Pakistan to crackdown on illegal migration and child sexual exploitation issues. You really couldn’t make it up.
While the UK fails to get to grips with small boat crossings and the promised grooming gangs inquiry shows no sign of materialising, taxpayers are funding work to tackle the same problems in Pakistan. One grooming gang whistleblower, Maggie Oliver, responded to the findings saying: “This is a very powerful example showing just what’s wrong with our country, and I’m sure the whole country will be as shocked and dismayed by this as I am. Of course, children throughout the world need protecting, but I know from my work here in the UK that we are failing to protect children in our own country on a monumental scale, and that must be our priority in my opinion.”
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Callum was once again on hand to stand up for taxpayers telling GB News: “With the chancellor set to pile on the pressure in the upcoming budget through punitive tax hikes, the need to focus on spending on the public’s priorities only grows.”
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Taxing retirement: fiscal necessity vs. long-term pension sustainability
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Blog-writing machine Jonathan is back with another barnstormer this week, this time looking at the impact of tax changes on pensions in the upcoming budget.Â
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Pensions seem to be the go to for chancellors when they’re desperate to raise cash and Rachel Reeves is no exception having already targeted them last year by bringing pension funds in scope of inheritance tax. But as Jonathan notes, going after pensions could be incredibly shortsighted: “Short-term revenue measures may offer temporary relief, but preserving confidence in the pension system remains essential. A sustainable economy depends on enabling people to save for retirement and reducing future dependence on welfare.” Have a read of Jonathan’s blog here.
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We’ve exposed before the amounts being spent on swanky cars for mayors but, despite employing a full time chauffeur for their mayor, Camden council has managed to wrack up a bill of almost ÂŁ11,000 for taxis for theirs.Â
William Yarwood was fuming when he heard telling Telegraph readers: “ Camden council have been one of the ringleaders of the increasingly vicious anti-driving campaign, yet are continuing to cover the cost not just of a chauffeur for the mayor but taxis as well when the chauffeur isn’t available.”
This kind of frivolous spending should be stamped out immediately! |
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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