Tax Payers Alliance - Newsletter

by Mark Wallace - Tax Payers Alliance - 08:23 on 11 October 2008

Popular Alliance & Tax Payers Alliance are not linked by any agreement, but we both call for the same actions and answers from our undemocratic and self-serving government.

If any links from this column fail to work directly, then go to www.taxpayersalliance.com

Standing up for taxpayers in the financial crisis

With the Government offering £50 billion of taxpayers' money to shore up the banks this week, and the shocking news that up to £1 billion of taxpayers' money may have been lost by councils who unwisely invested in Icelandic banks, the TPA has been extremely busy giving taxpayers a voice in these crucial debates. With politicians scrambling for solutions and bankers demanding a bail out, there was a severe danger that taxpayers could be drowned out in all the chaos. With a key briefing paper on the crisis and a massive media presence, though, we have made your voice heard. 

On Wednesday, within hours of the Government unveiling their bail out plans we published a concise briefing note, summarising the risks to taxpayers and the urgent need for other moves from the Government to limit the amount of taxpayers' money that banks would need. You can read our briefing here. As well as demanding cast-iron guarantees that our money will not be spent on Christmas bonuses in the City, we reminded the Government that taxpayers' money is not the only tool at their disposal, and recommended several key moves which could shore up banks without costing taxpayers: 

- A drastic cut to interest rates

- A suspension of mark to market accounting regulations

- A radical improvement of the depositor guarantee scheme 

The briefing made a big impact in the media, and gave us the opportunity to remind people that this money will come from taxpayers' pockets:

Taxpayers' money up in smoke in Iceland 

Yesterday, the news broke that councils had lost hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money in the collapse of Icelandic banks. Again, the TPA was at the front of the charge holding councils to account for stashing so much money in the first place, and then losing it in risky investments. Bit by bit, it has emerged that councils should have been alive to the risks of the Icelandic banking system - particularly considering the amount they spend on financial advice and consultants. It's notable that some councils, such as Brighton, took heed of the warning and withdrew from Iceland months ago, but many others ignored it and lost taxpayers' money.  

It's important that we hold them to account for their failure - and urge them to make savings in their spending rather than use this as an excuse to push up council tax. You can find the contact details of the leaders of all the councils who had invested taxpayers' money in Icelandic banks, as well as information about how they could cut their wasteful spending, here.  

We are keeping up the media pressure to hold the people responsible for this disastrous mistake to account:

Add your comment

Your Name


Your Email (only if you are happy to have it on the site)


Your Comment - no HTML or weblinks


Enter this number in the box below and click Send - why?Unfortunately we have to do this to prevent the system being swamped by automated spam