Chancellor plans to cut taxes before 2024
There was very promising news for taxpayers on Saturday morning as The Times revealed that Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to cut taxes. According to the paper, the chancellor has asked the Treasury to outline how to reduce the tax burden.

The TaxPayers' Alliance has been warning about the dangerous effects of the ever-increasing tax-burden. Currently, it is set to reach a 73 year high in 2023-24. So it's great to see our campaigning is having a direct effect on the chancellor.
Under the proposals he is considering, income tax cut could be cut by 2 pence and VAT on green energy reduced. There are even suggestions that there will be cuts to the much-hated inheritance tax.

With an escalating cost of living crisis, millions of Brits are crying out for the chancellor to cut their taxes. This is a welcome statement of intent from Rishi but he must do more than simply offset the Tory tax rises we've seen over the last decade.

What the country needs is a proper programme to rein in wasteful spending and slash taxes to fuel long term economic growth. The TaxPayers' Alliance has a huge body of work in these areas and we'll be banging on the doors of Downing Street to get our message across.
TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
Brits foot bill for eco aid to China and India

China and India are set to receive £1.5 billion in "climate aid" of which £38 million will come from British taxpayers. According to the Mail on Sunday, "despite having two of the fastest growing economies in the world, the UN designates China and India as ‘developing states’."
Asked for his thoughts our chief executive John O’Connell was absolutely scathing of the aid spending, "The net zero target mustnot see working taxpayers landed with the bill. With the highest tax levels in 70 years, family finances are already strained and cannot be expected to pay these green grants to wealthy nations."

We're telling ministers to address the ineffectiveness of eco-aid and protect Brits from paying out for more squandered spending.
Camden council's virtue signalling costs taxpayers dear

At the beginning of November, Camden council unveiled a newly painted pedestrian crossing "to celebrate Transgender Awareness Week." The specially coloured crossing soon had many questioning the cost to the taxpayer.

Our media campaign manager Danielle Boxall was straight out of the blocks to submit a freedom of information request to the council.
Despite being a relatively simple design and consisting of just three colours, the cost was a jaw-dropping £10,464! This is from a local authority that has a £20 million budget shortfall.

Danielle stood up for taxpayers telling the Daily Mail that residents "must be sick of seeing their council waste thousands on virtue signalling".  I couldn't have put it better myself.
Bus lane camera rakes in £1.8 million

Authorities have also become increasingly aggressive at using motorists as cash cows. Last year alone they raked in £1.76 billion in fines and fees, just in England. But I was shocked to learn that Brighton and Hove City Council managed to nab £1.8 million from just four bus lane cameras in a little over a year.
As I wrote for ConservativeHome this week, what angered me most was the unsporting tactics employed by the council. The council's signposting to alert motorists to the bus lane was not clear to say the least.

It points to a worrying attitude we’re seeing more of from councils. Many prefer to drum up ways to hoover up cash from already over-taxed motorists rather than putting greater effort into eradicating wasteful spending and operating more efficiently. Click here to read the full story.
MPs learn languages at taxpayer expense

It's recently come to light that the taxpayer has spent £127,000 on language lessons for members of parliament over the last five years. For example, Daniel Kawczynski has cost the taxpayer £21,997. The Daily Star reports of this amount, around £8,000 was spent on Polish lessons in 2020-21. 
On this issue the TaxPayers' Alliance is unequivocal. We told readers that MPs should pay for classes out of their own pocket and not expect taxpayers to pick up the bill.
Blog of the week
The stealth subsidies scandal

Subsidies are like any other form of government spending. But as our policy analyst Darwin Friend writes, analysis from the TaxPayers’ Alliance has found that 64 per cent of subsidies handed out by the government wouldn't have to be reported under planned transparency thresholds. That seems like a huge amount of taxpayers’ money going unscrutinised in these stealth subsidies. 

There is a good reason for wanting the information to be as transparent as possible. Subsidies have uses in supporting industry, but they also pose a significant danger. They cause resources to be misallocated, from activities that would occur if they didn’t exist, to those which have been chosen by politicians. Less transparent systems make this problem much worse. 
We need to have as transparent a subsidy control system as possible, by setting a £500 threshold for reporting subsidies as proposed by John Penrose MP. This will enable taxpayers to hold the government to account and ensure that they are not arbitrarily picking winners or propping up losers. 

It’s clear a highly transparent state aid system would protect against abuses, limit the distortions and improve public trust in the new subsidy-making processes. Click here to read the full story.
War on Waste
Taxpayers hit the roof after council cockup

Taxpayers in Dundee are facing a repair bill of £4.4 million after a calamitous cockup by the council. Roofs on 450 council-owned homes should have been made more resistant to strong winds. But because out-of-date building regulations were followed the local authority will have to carry out repairs.

The council leader, to his credit, has admitted the problem shouldn't have happened in the first place but that's little consolation for local taxpayers. Once again this is vital money that could have been spent on front line services or even avoiding another year of council tax rises. 

It just shows that councils like Dundee must get their act together and avoid leaving taxpayers footing an unnecessary bill.

Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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