TaxPayers' Alliance
Encyclopedia
The TaxPayers' Alliance is a British
pressure group and taxpayers union
formed in 2004 to campaign for a low tax
society. The group had about 18,000 registered supporters as of 2008, and claimed to have 55,000 by September 2010.
According to its website, the mission of the TPA is "to reverse the perception that big government
is necessary and irreversible; to explain the benefits of a low tax economy; to give taxpayers a voice in the corridors of power; to oppose EU tax harmonisation."
felt the need to match the Labour Party
's spending plans, and the TPA aimed to represent, in the words of founder and Chief Executive Matthew Elliott, those "who want to have lower taxes and lower spending". The attraction for donors, many associated with the Conservatives, is the ability of the TPA "to "fly kites" for policy ideas that may go on to be adopted as Conservative policy."
The TPA's campaigning approach focussed on the media, relying in part on the reduction in journalists' investigation budgets. It aims to shape public opinion through the media by packaging its research "into brief, media-friendly research papers, complete with an eye-catching headline figure to give reporters a ready-made "top line"." Its research is often based on "using the government's own data and Freedom of Information requests to winkle out examples of public sector waste".
The TPA's income from donations rose from around £68,000 in 2005 to around £1m in 2009.
In September 2010, it was reported that the TaxPayers' Alliance was organising an event sponsored by several American lobbyists and groups involved in the Tea Party movement
, including the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, the Cato Institute
and the Heritage Foundation
. The Alliance has also sought advice from the Tea Party leadership, with Matthew Elliott stating in September 2010: "We need to learn from our European colleagues and the Tea Party movement in the US. It will be fascinating to see whether it will transfer to the UK. Will there be the same sort of uprising?"
In October 2009 Elliott admitted that another director of the group, Alexander Heath, had not in fact paid any British taxes for several years as he resides in a farmhouse in the Loire
in France. Heath has lived and paid taxes in France since 1973.
and The Daily Telegraph
in opposition to high taxation. The signatories included:
Other TPA named supporters include Stuart Wheeler
(who donated £5m to the Conservatives before he endorsed the UK Independence Party), Sir Rocco Forte (hotelier); and Sir John Craven
(chairman of mining group Lonmin
).
, was quoted in 517 Daily Mail
articles, 317 times in The Sun
- including once by a topless model on Page Three.
"front". "This is an arms-length Tory front operation run by big powerful business interests who want to remove themselves from paying tax by poisoning the well of public debate around the issue," said Labour MP Jon Cruddas
. Polly Toynbee
in The Guardian
and Kevin Maguire
in The Daily Mirror
have also levelled this charge, although the group's leadership has denied it. All three founders, and a number of TPA staff members have associations with the Conservative Party and have strong links with the Freedom Association
.
However, when Nick Ferrari
asked TPA's campaign manager Susie Squire whether she was "secretly Conservative", she rejected the accusation as "outrageous" saying the organisation was "totally independent". In 2010, Squire became a special adviser
to the Conservative Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
, Iain Duncan Smith
.
The alliance has two offices – one in London and one in Birmingham. Its website shows that, in March 2009, it employed 13 members of staff.
Construction magnate Malcolm McAlpine and a spokesman for JCB tycoon Sir Anthony Bamford, have said they also helped fund the TPA.
The group has been accused of hypocrisy and possible illegality after it was revealed that it had been claiming tax relief on donations received from wealthy backers, which were intended for the purposes of political research.
and the European Union
.
requests, in order to
"review spending by local authorities in all corners of the UK and identify a number of budgets that could and should be reduced....[the campaign] enables taxpayers to judge for themselves whether their money is well spent." The Alliance argues that "By trimming the fat from their budgets, councils can reduce the burden on hard-pressed families and pensioners without cutting important services."
So far the campaign has criticised:
in the USA. To that end, TPA publishes information on public spending on its website, including the council by council data of the Council Spending Uncovered research series and the What's My Car Tax? database which allows people to find out how the 2008 Budget will affect their car tax.
scandal over the misuse of funding for political researchers, the TPA has called for greatly increased transparency, improved scrutiny of expenses and the abolition of some expenses such as the allowance for MPs' second homes. The Alliance has also written to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to request an investigation into the expenses of Michael Martin
, the then Speaker of the House of Commons
. They have not, however, argued for commensurate levels of accountability from pressure groups that receive commercial funding, and critics have argued that they are in favour of transparency only from people who are elected, as opposed to transparency for organisations that conduct political campaigning for commercial ends.
“One to Watch” award. In November 2007, chief executive Matthew Elliott was presented with the Conservative Way Forward ‘One of Us’ award by shadow foreign secretary William Hague
.
In 2007 the TPA won the Innovation Award at the Stockholm Network
's "Golden Umbrellas" think tank awards.
Revelations by The Guardian
newspaper in 2009 resulted in the UK's Charity Commission
opening a regulatory compliance case into the Trust. It was reported in December of the same year that the alliance requested certain of its donors - identified as "private businessman" located in the English Midlands
- to channel funds through the trust for research into policies which might potentially damage their commercial interests. This move allegedly allowed the Alliance to receive tax relief on the donations; tax accountants have stated that the move potentially breached charity law, as UK commission guidelines state that organisations may not be charitable if they have political purposes.
A spokesman for the Charity Commission was quoted as saying that the "scope of the investigation is to address the allegations relating to the charity's relationship with the Taxpayers' Alliance"; such cases are opened when "available information indicates misconduct or mismanagement has occurred" or otherwise when actions "may have been improper".
John Prescott
, former UK Deputy Prime Minister
, stated that the Charity Commission's announcement of an investigation showed the Taxpayers' Alliance was "exploiting the taxpayer rather than protecting their interests as they claim to do". He also wrote to Dame Suzi Leather, the Commission's chairwoman, requesting that the Alliance's charitable status be immediately suspended; he has in the past called the Alliance "a Conservative Party front".
According to another report, Americans for Prosperity
, another Tea Party
group which claims to have 1.5m activists and is headed by oil billionaires, Koch brothers of Koch Industries
, was also represented at the London conference, and helped fund it.
, claimed the group is "fundamental to the Conservatives' political strategy", which he said was to destroy public confidence in politicians' ability to deliver public services, thereby paving the way for cuts. "There is something deeply dishonest about their campaigns on government waste," he said. "Their aim isn't to make public spending work better, but to slash it dramatically. Yet none of them will campaign on their true vision of society: fewer public services. At least Thatcher was honest about the deal: less 'public' means you go private."
, was set up in 2008 and claims to represent the 99.96% of the UK population who are not a member of the regular TPA. It campaigns for "fairer taxes, not lower taxes".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
pressure group and taxpayers union
Taxpayer groups
Taxpayer groups, also known as taxpayers union, are formal nonprofit or informal advocacy groups that promote lower taxation, reductions in government spending, and limits to government debt. Many United States cities and countries have taxpayer groups...
formed in 2004 to campaign for a low tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
society. The group had about 18,000 registered supporters as of 2008, and claimed to have 55,000 by September 2010.
According to its website, the mission of the TPA is "to reverse the perception that big government
Big government
Big government is a term generally used by political conservatives, laissez-faire advocates, or libertarians to describe a government or public sector which they consider to be excessively large, corrupt and inefficient, or inappropriately involved in certain areas of public policy or the private...
is necessary and irreversible; to explain the benefits of a low tax economy; to give taxpayers a voice in the corridors of power; to oppose EU tax harmonisation."
History
The TPA was founded in 2004 by "a group of "libertarian" Conservatives, frustrated by what they saw as the party's decision to ditch its traditional tax cutting message." At the time the Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
felt the need to match the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
's spending plans, and the TPA aimed to represent, in the words of founder and Chief Executive Matthew Elliott, those "who want to have lower taxes and lower spending". The attraction for donors, many associated with the Conservatives, is the ability of the TPA "to "fly kites" for policy ideas that may go on to be adopted as Conservative policy."
The TPA's campaigning approach focussed on the media, relying in part on the reduction in journalists' investigation budgets. It aims to shape public opinion through the media by packaging its research "into brief, media-friendly research papers, complete with an eye-catching headline figure to give reporters a ready-made "top line"." Its research is often based on "using the government's own data and Freedom of Information requests to winkle out examples of public sector waste".
The TPA's income from donations rose from around £68,000 in 2005 to around £1m in 2009.
In September 2010, it was reported that the TaxPayers' Alliance was organising an event sponsored by several American lobbyists and groups involved in the Tea Party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
, including the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, the Cato Institute
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
and the Heritage Foundation
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...
. The Alliance has also sought advice from the Tea Party leadership, with Matthew Elliott stating in September 2010: "We need to learn from our European colleagues and the Tea Party movement in the US. It will be fascinating to see whether it will transfer to the UK. Will there be the same sort of uprising?"
Directors
Matthew Elliott is the current Chief Executive of The Taxpayers' Alliance.In October 2009 Elliott admitted that another director of the group, Alexander Heath, had not in fact paid any British taxes for several years as he resides in a farmhouse in the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
in France. Heath has lived and paid taxes in France since 1973.
Prominent supporters
In November 2004 and December 2005, the Alliance sent letters to the Financial TimesFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
and The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
in opposition to high taxation. The signatories included:
- Adam AfriyieAdam AfriyieAdam Afriyie is a British Conservative Party politician, and the Member of Parliament for Windsor. He was first elected at the 2005 general election and re-elected at the 2010 election.-Early life:...
- Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for WindsorWindsor (UK Parliament constituency)Windsor is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In its modern form, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...
since 2005 - Tim CongdonTim CongdonTim G. Congdon CBE ) is an economist, educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School and St. John's and Nuffield colleges at the University of Oxford, with a long record of commenting on public policy issues, including writing sympathetically about the monetarist approach to macroeconomic policy...
CBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... - Howard FlightHoward FlightHoward Emerson Flight, Baron Flight is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom and a member of the House of Lords. He was Member of Parliament for Arundel and South Downs from 1997 to 2005...
- Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Arundel and South DownsArundel and South DownsArundel and South Downs is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
from 1997United Kingdom general election, 1997The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
to 2005United Kingdom general election, 2005The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160.... - Ruth LeaRuth LeaRuth Jane Lea is a British economist, who works in the financial sector and has also worked in the Civil Service, policy research bodies and the media....
- Professor Patrick MinfordPatrick MinfordProfessor Patrick Minford CBE is a British macroeconomist who is currently Professor of Applied Economics at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, a position he has held since 1997...
CBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... - Andrew Roberts
- Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of SalisburyRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of SalisburyRobert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, PC, DL , is a British Conservative politician. During the 1990s, he was Leader of the House of Lords under his courtesy title of Viscount Cranborne...
- Roger ScrutonRoger ScrutonRoger Vernon Scruton is a conservative English philosopher and writer. He is the author of over 30 books, including Art and Imagination , Sexual Desire , The Aesthetics of Music , and A Political Philosophy: Arguments For Conservatism...
Other TPA named supporters include Stuart Wheeler
Stuart Wheeler
Stuart Wheeler is a British businessman and politician. He made his fortune as the founder of the spread betting firm IG Index in 1974, but is best known for his political activism, being formerly a major donor to the Conservative Party and since 2011, has been treasurer of the United Kingdom...
(who donated £5m to the Conservatives before he endorsed the UK Independence Party), Sir Rocco Forte (hotelier); and Sir John Craven
Sir John Craven
Sir John Craven is a director of Reuters and formerly Deutsche Bank and chairman of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group plc....
(chairman of mining group Lonmin
Lonmin
Lonmin plc , formerly Lonrho plc, is a producer of platinum group metals operating in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
).
Media exposure
In 2009, The TaxPayers' Alliance was mentioned 29 times by The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, was quoted in 517 Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
articles, 317 times in The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
- including once by a topless model on Page Three.
Party affiliation
Although the TaxPayers' Alliance is not officially affiliated with any political party, it has been accused of being a Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
"front". "This is an arms-length Tory front operation run by big powerful business interests who want to remove themselves from paying tax by poisoning the well of public debate around the issue," said Labour MP Jon Cruddas
Jon Cruddas
Jonathan Cruddas is a British Labour Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for Dagenham and Rainham. He was first elected in 2001 to the seat of Dagenham....
. Polly Toynbee
Polly Toynbee
Polly Toynbee is a British journalist and writer, and has been a columnist for The Guardian newspaper since 1998. She is a social democrat and broadly supports the Labour Party, while urging it in many areas to be more left-wing...
in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and Kevin Maguire
Kevin Maguire (journalist)
Kevin Maguire is a British political journalist, currently Associate Editor at the Daily Mirror newspaper. From an Irish Catholic family, earlier in his career Maguire was Chief Reporter for The Guardian....
in The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
have also levelled this charge, although the group's leadership has denied it. All three founders, and a number of TPA staff members have associations with the Conservative Party and have strong links with the Freedom Association
The Freedom Association
The Freedom Association is a pressure group in the United Kingdom that describes itself as non-partisan, centre-right and libertarian, which has links to the Conservative Party. TFA was founded in 1975 as the National Association for Freedom and gained public prominence through its anti-trade...
.
However, when Nick Ferrari
Nick Ferrari
Nick Ferrari is a radio presenter who currently hosts the weekday breakfast show from 0700-1000 UTC on the London-based talk and phone-in radio station LBC 97.3. He also has a regular column in the Sunday Express and is a regular guest on The Alan Titchmarsh Show on ITV1...
asked TPA's campaign manager Susie Squire whether she was "secretly Conservative", she rejected the accusation as "outrageous" saying the organisation was "totally independent". In 2010, Squire became a special adviser
Special advisers in the United Kingdom
A special adviser works in a supporting role to the British government. With media, political or policy expertise, their duty is to assist and advise government ministers.-Role:...
to the Conservative Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a post in the British Cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the Employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security.The Ministry...
, Iain Duncan Smith
Iain Duncan Smith
George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...
.
Funding
The Taxpayers' Alliance is constituted as a private company limited by guarantee in the UK - number 04873888. As a small company, it is exempt from audit which means that it meets two of the following criteria:- annual turnover of £5.6 million or less
- balance sheet total of £2.8 million or less
- fewer than 50 employees.
The alliance has two offices – one in London and one in Birmingham. Its website shows that, in March 2009, it employed 13 members of staff.
Donations
Sixty per cent of donations come from individuals or groups giving more than £5,000. The Midlands Industrial Council, which has donated £1.5m to the Conservatives since 2003, said it has given around £80,000 on behalf of 32 owners of private companies. David Alberto, co-owner of serviced office company Avanta, has donated a suite in Westminster worth £100,000 a year, because he opposes the level of tax on businesses.Construction magnate Malcolm McAlpine and a spokesman for JCB tycoon Sir Anthony Bamford, have said they also helped fund the TPA.
The group has been accused of hypocrisy and possible illegality after it was revealed that it had been claiming tax relief on donations received from wealthy backers, which were intended for the purposes of political research.
Bumper Book of Government Waste
Since 2005 the Alliance has published an annual book, The Bumper Book of Government Waste, detailing perceived financial mismanagement in government departments, local government, devolved government, The Royal FamilyBritish Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
and the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Council Spending Uncovered
The Council Spending Uncovered campaign uses accounts from every local authority in the United Kingdom, obtained through Freedom of InformationFreedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level...
requests, in order to
"review spending by local authorities in all corners of the UK and identify a number of budgets that could and should be reduced....[the campaign] enables taxpayers to judge for themselves whether their money is well spent." The Alliance argues that "By trimming the fat from their budgets, councils can reduce the burden on hard-pressed families and pensioners without cutting important services."
So far the campaign has criticised:
- £450 million of spending on local government publicity.
- a ninefold increase in the number of local government staff earning £50,000 or more
- that the "outdated" Local Government Pension Scheme, which costs £4.6 billion in employer contributions each year, described by the TPA as equivalent to £1 in every £5 of council tax.
Google Government
The TPA is a leading proponent of "Google government", arguing that taxpayers have a right to scrutinise how their money is being spent, and citing the success of similar initiatives abroad, for instance USAspending.gov, which was established by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 is an Act of Congress that requires the full disclosure to the public of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year 2007. The website opened in December 2007 as a result of the act, and is...
in the USA. To that end, TPA publishes information on public spending on its website, including the council by council data of the Council Spending Uncovered research series and the What's My Car Tax? database which allows people to find out how the 2008 Budget will affect their car tax.
MPs' Expenses
The Alliance has called for more accountability and transparency in Parliament. In the aftermath of the Derek ConwayDerek Conway
Derek Leslie Conway TD is an English politician and television presenter. A member of the centre-right Conservative Party, Conway served as a Member of Parliament for the constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup from 2001 to 2010....
scandal over the misuse of funding for political researchers, the TPA has called for greatly increased transparency, improved scrutiny of expenses and the abolition of some expenses such as the allowance for MPs' second homes. The Alliance has also written to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to request an investigation into the expenses of Michael Martin
Michael Martin (politician)
Michael John Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, PC is a British politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Glasgow Springburn from 1979 to 2005, and then for Glasgow North East until 2009...
, the then Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
. They have not, however, argued for commensurate levels of accountability from pressure groups that receive commercial funding, and critics have argued that they are in favour of transparency only from people who are elected, as opposed to transparency for organisations that conduct political campaigning for commercial ends.
Awards
In 2006, the TaxPayers' Alliance won the ConservativeHomeConservativeHome
Conservative Home is a British political website started by Tim Montgomerie prior to the 2005 United Kingdom general election campaign, that aims to represent UK grassroots Conservative opinion.-Editors:...
“One to Watch” award. In November 2007, chief executive Matthew Elliott was presented with the Conservative Way Forward ‘One of Us’ award by shadow foreign secretary William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
.
In 2007 the TPA won the Innovation Award at the Stockholm Network
Stockholm network
The Stockholm Network is a pan-European think tank and network, located in London. In addition to its own policy research, it is an umbrella organisation for market-oriented think tanks in Europe...
's "Golden Umbrellas" think tank awards.
Tax investigation of charitable arm
The charitable arm of the Taxpayers' Alliance - the Politics and Economics Research Trust - is under investigation by regulators following allegations that the group may have used the trust to gain tax relief for donations intended to fund political research.Revelations by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper in 2009 resulted in the UK's Charity Commission
Charity Commission
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the non-ministerial government department that regulates registered charities in England and Wales....
opening a regulatory compliance case into the Trust. It was reported in December of the same year that the alliance requested certain of its donors - identified as "private businessman" located in the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
- to channel funds through the trust for research into policies which might potentially damage their commercial interests. This move allegedly allowed the Alliance to receive tax relief on the donations; tax accountants have stated that the move potentially breached charity law, as UK commission guidelines state that organisations may not be charitable if they have political purposes.
A spokesman for the Charity Commission was quoted as saying that the "scope of the investigation is to address the allegations relating to the charity's relationship with the Taxpayers' Alliance"; such cases are opened when "available information indicates misconduct or mismanagement has occurred" or otherwise when actions "may have been improper".
John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
, former UK Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
, stated that the Charity Commission's announcement of an investigation showed the Taxpayers' Alliance was "exploiting the taxpayer rather than protecting their interests as they claim to do". He also wrote to Dame Suzi Leather, the Commission's chairwoman, requesting that the Alliance's charitable status be immediately suspended; he has in the past called the Alliance "a Conservative Party front".
According to another report, Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Prosperity is a Washington, D.C.–based political advocacy group. According to their literature, they promote economic policy that supports business, and restrains regulation by government...
, another Tea Party
Tea party
A tea party is a formal, ritualized gathering for afternoon tea.Formal tea parties are often characterized by the use of prestige utensils, such as bone china or silver. The table is made to look its prettiest, with cloth napkins and matching cups and plates. In addition to tea, larger parties may...
group which claims to have 1.5m activists and is headed by oil billionaires, Koch brothers of Koch Industries
Koch Industries
Koch Industries, Inc. , is an American private energy conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch also owns Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals and Matador Cattle Company...
, was also represented at the London conference, and helped fund it.
Public services
An investigation by Tim Horton, research director of the left-wing Fabian SocietyFabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
, claimed the group is "fundamental to the Conservatives' political strategy", which he said was to destroy public confidence in politicians' ability to deliver public services, thereby paving the way for cuts. "There is something deeply dishonest about their campaigns on government waste," he said. "Their aim isn't to make public spending work better, but to slash it dramatically. Yet none of them will campaign on their true vision of society: fewer public services. At least Thatcher was honest about the deal: less 'public' means you go private."
The Other Taxpayers Alliance
An alternative organisation, The Other TaxPayers' AllianceThe Other TaxPayers' Alliance
The Other TaxPayers' Alliance is a British non-profit organization formed in 2008 to campaign for a fairer tax society.According to its website, the mission of the OTPA is to address the selective material released by the right wing pressure group known as The TaxPayers' Alliance...
, was set up in 2008 and claims to represent the 99.96% of the UK population who are not a member of the regular TPA. It campaigns for "fairer taxes, not lower taxes".
External links
- Official website
- BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 3 March 2008, The campaign group: Taxpayers' Alliance - Localgov.co.uk, 2 March 2009, LGA hits out at pension claims
- Sourcewatch profile of the Taxpayers' Alliance