There is a lot to like about Iain Duncan Smith’s new proposals for welfare reform. The chance to move towards a radically simplified benefits system is enormously exciting. As I wrote for Coffee House last week, the current system is a complete mess and failing on just about every criteria. It is so complicated that
As far back as last September, Iain Martin wrote that Iain Duncan Smith’s plans to reform the welfare system were going to run into trouble over cost: ‘But there is no way these proposals, as drafted, will be implemented by a Conservative government, for one simple reason: they carry an estimated up-front increased cost of
In 2009, Britain borrowed more, as a share of its national income, than any country that isn’t being bailed out by the IMF and the Eurozone (Greece) or already making drastic spending cuts (Ireland). That huge deficit is the critical challenge to our economic stability that George Osborne needs to tackle with the Budget today.
There is plenty of very good news in the Budget. A two year public sector pay freeze, the abolition of the Child Trust Fund and cuts in welfare spending are all longstanding TPA recommendations that will be absolutely key to getting the public finances under control. As a result of all the measures proposed, annual
Alistair Darling was terribly proud of the Government’s record in his Budget speech today. But he again dodged the question of how he’ll get the deficit under control. Ruth Lea has called this his “do little” Budget. With the country still facing hundreds of billions in borrowing, the few billion being saved are virtually neglible.
Unruly, bizarre and hungry for your money, Britain’s quangos must be stopped, says Matthew Sinclair They are our longest-running political horror story. And, under Labour, they have been ever more unruly, increasingly dangerous and always ready to suck the blood of taxpayer’s wealth. For several decades politicians have been discussing cutting the number of Quasi-Autonomous
Today the TaxPayers’ Alliance is releasing a new report which sets out the huge and excessive burden that green taxes impose on families and business across the UK. At the moment, 14 percent of domestic bill costs are the result of climate change policies. Increasing the price of energy hits the poor and elderly hardest
At the TaxPayers’ Alliance, we’ve released a new report, Tax and Entrepreneurship, today looking at how the tax system affects the incentives for entrepreneurs. The report sets out how the new 50p top rate will mean fewer new businesses and, as a result, fewer jobs. In order to make it worth a potential entrepreneur’s while
Many thanks to Matthew Sinclair, of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, for the Sunday Essay below. We accept Sunday Essay submissions from any of our readers – be they MPs, policy wonks or nothing to do with politics at all. For more information on how to submit an essay, please click here – Pete Hoskin With the