The TaxPayers' Alliance is the favourite think tank of ConservativeHome readers

Yesterday we noted how a panel of influential journalists, parliamentarians and thought leaders rated the London think tanks. The Centre for Social Justice and Policy Exchange won top marks.

Simultaneously we also held a vote of ConservativeHome readers and that produced a very strong showing for The TaxPayers' Alliance in almost every category.

1,265 took part and this is how they voted:

35% voted the TaxPayers' Alliance as the most effective overall think tank in influencing the national debate. The Centre for Social Justice won 12% of the vote. Policy Exchange 10%.

40% thought the TPA had carried out the most interesting economic analysis. Reform was next with 9%. The Centre for Policy Studies and Policy Exchange tied with 8%.

48% thought the TPA would be toughest on any Conservative government. Second placed in this category was Reform with 7% and MigrationWatch with 6%.

20% thought the TPA had been most effective at nurturing new talent. Second was the Adam Smith Institute with 15% and then Policy Exchange with 14%.

The CSJ did win among readers in the category of which think tank had been most influential on the Cameron project - as it did with influentials. It won 25% of the vote. Policy Exchange won 20%.  The TaxPayers' Alliance won 17%.

Centre for Social Justice and Policy Exchange are best regarded think tanks by ConservativeHome's 'influentials panel'

Over the last few days ConservativeHome has been surveying readers and 'influentials' about the quality of the London think tanks. Tomorrow we'll publish how readers voted. Today we publish the results of voting by 94 influential journalists, parliamentarians, bloggers and other thought-leaders.

The Centre for Social justice was voted the think tank that has had the biggest influence on the Cameron project

The CSJ only just beat Policy Exchange. The CSJ won 40 votes and PX won 36 votes. Third, a long way behind, was Respublica with 5 votes.

The CSJ has played a leading role in David Cameron's biggest idea, "the Big Society". Seventy CSJ policy ideas have been adopted by the Conservative Party.

Policy Exchange was voted the think tank that was most effective overall

It won 33 votes. The CSJ won 29 votes. The TaxPayers' Alliance won 18 votes. PX's most recent success was its publication arguing against NI rises.

The TaxPayers' Alliance was voted the think tank likely to cause most difficulty for any Conservative government

It won a massive 55 of the votes in this section. Next came Reform with 10 votes and then the Centre for Policy Studies with 8 votes. The TPA recently produced a manifesto that set it against key parts of the Conservative programme. The Left's argument that it is a Tory front organisation is not believed by our panel of influentials.

The Adam Smith Institute was voted the think tank best at developing new talent

The ASI won 18 votes. Policy Exchange won 16 votes. The TaxPayers' Alliance and the CSJ both won 14 votes.

The think tanks demand big cuts from Darling (but don't expect them)

Ahead of today's Budget the centre right and reformist think tanks have been lining up to offer Alistair Darling advice. Here's a summary of what they're saying.

There is an air of unreality about the tough decisions that are going to be necessary, according to Mark Littlewood of the IEA:

“Politicians are not talking seriously about the need for dramatic and speedy cuts in public expenditure. A few billion here and a few billion there are nowhere near enough to restore market confidence. We can’t be expected to make sufficient savings from so-called efficiency gains; there will need to be major cuts to a whole raft of public services. We also need a radical overhaul of our welfare, education and health systems, to ensure that we don’t suffer as easily in future from the sort of reckless and out-of-control spending that has characterised the last few years.”

Eamonn Butler at the Adam Smith Institute agrees that spending needs to be cut:

"Public expenditure has increased by a third since 1997 – and has all that bought us anything worthwhile? We need nothing less than a complete re-think of what government exists for, and which parts of it we want to keep and even expand. But there is room for very large savings in departments, quangos and programmes that have simply grown, but which deliver little of value."

Andrew Haldenby of Reform has identified the measures being taken by other very indebted nations as examples of what the UK will eventually need to do:

• Portugal is means-testing more benefits and cutting the costs of the public sector workforce by 1 per cent of GDP.
• Ireland is cutting the costs of the public sector workforce through reductions in both pay (an average 7 per cent cut for all public servants) and headcount and reforming public sector pensions.
• Greece is cutting the costs of the public sector workforce through reductions in both pay (a 10 per cent cut in total public sector pay), reductions in full time civil service headcount through natural wastage and cuts in short term contracts.
• Spain is cutting the costs of the public sector workforce by 2 per cent of GDP through a pay freeze and reductions in headcount through natural wastage and cuts in short term contracts.

He goes on to identify three main tasks for the Chancellor:

1. The first is to eliminate the structural deficit in the UK public finances and return them to surplus.
2. The second is to secure economic growth and employment so that the cyclical part of the deficit is eliminated as well.
3. The third is to reform the UK public sector so that it achieves greater productivity even after the deficit is eliminated, allowing taxes to be reduced.

Matt Sinclair of The TaxPayers' Alliance reminds us of the £50bn list of cuts that the TPA produced with the Institute of Directors.

Yesterday we noted Policy Exchange's pre-budget report and its warning against higher National Insurance Contributions and also higher VAT.

In its advice to the Chancellor the CPS emphasised a bold measures to accelerate economic growth.

The TaxPayers' Alliance publishes its manifesto

The TaxPayers' Alliance has published its manifesto this morning. Many of its pledges will cause the Tory party no headache but some are in direct conflict with the ambitions of a Conservative government.

• Cut middle class welfare;
• Cut corporation tax to 15% or lower (I expect George Osborne to make big steps towards this if he becomes Chancellor);
• Abolish inheritance tax (more sensibly the party is pledged to do this but only for non-millionaires);
• Introduce elected police chiefs (this is already Chris Grayling's flagship policy);
• Publish full data on spending (the Tories have promised disclosure of all Whitehall contracts over £25,000 - Stephan Shakespeare of the Network for the Post-Bureaucratic Age has already warned that this will lead to lots of budgeting things at £24,995!);
• Recall and citizens' initiatives;
• Payment-by-results rehabilition regime in prisons;
• School choice.

• Abolish the 50p tax rate;
• Abolish a range of quangos;
• Reform the NHS to make it less centralised.

• The TPA want abolition of taxpayer subsidy of the trade unions. We learnt today that David Cameron intends to continue with the union modernisation fund.
• Abandon the 2020 renewables target and the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme.
• Drop the 0.7% target for foreign aid spending.
• Hold a referendum on fundamental renegotiation of the UK-EU relationship. No chance of this happening (sadly).

Read a PDF of the full manifesto.

Tim Montgomerie

Public sector staff are striking fifteen times more than those in the private sector

Research from The TaxPayers' Alliance notes that strikes are now fifteen times more likely in the public than private sectors. Ten years ago private sector strikes were twice as likely. See the research note here (pdf).

ConservativeHome has been highlighting the role of the public sector unions as they pour money into Labour's marginal seats campaign and as they also build up a war chest to "unleash hell" on any incoming Tory government.

Respublica joins the blogging think tanks

Respublica, the think tank of 'Red Tory' Philip Blond, is the latest to launch a blog. It has been named The Disraeli Room. Mr Blond's first post focuses on the big idea of "ownership".

Many think tanks featured by ThinkTankCentral already have established blogs:

• The Institute of Economic Affairs;
• The Centre for Social Cohesion;
• Civitas;
• Open Europe;
• The Centre for Policy Studies;
• The TaxPayers' Alliance; and
• The Adam Smith Institute (the best of the bunch in my opinion and has, this morning, a good post against the Robbing Hood Tax).

Policy Exchange and Reform don't have their own blogs but they do have accounts on CentreRight.com and probably reach wider audiences via that channel. Reform's contributions are here and PX's here. 

Tim Montgomerie

Profile of The Taxpayers Alliance

Key staff

Matthew Elliott (Co-Founder and Chief Executive); Andrew Allum (Co-Founder and Chairman); Sara Rainwater (Operations Director); Matthew Sinclair (Research Director); Susie Squire (Political Director); Mark Wallace (Campaign Director); Alex Deane (Director, Big Brother Watch).

Basic philosophy

The TPA is Britain's independent grassroots campaign for better public services and lower taxes. It currently has 32,000 signed-up supporters across the country. Its mission is to reverse the perception that big government is necessary and irreversible; to explain the benefits of a low tax economy; and to give taxpayers a voice in the corridors of power.

Politicians from across the political spectrum have been the subject of its Freedom of Information requests as the TPA aims to cut the costs of politics and increase transparency.

It has recently expanded its work into 'modernising Euroscepticism' and campaigning against 'the Big Brother State'.

Recent achievements

Over the past five years, the TPA has grown from operating as a group of volunteers meeting in various coffee shops around London, to employing fifteen members of staff working from offices in London and Birmingham, attracting an average of 700 high-quality media hits every month. Seldom a day goes by without their spokesmen being interviewed in the press or appearing on TV or radio to denounce wasteful state spending. It is Britain's most high-impact campaign group from the centre right.

It has served as a thorn in the Government's side prompting the rage of the Left. Their publication The Bumper Book of Government Waste - highlighting £101 billion worth of misspending - should be required reading for the Shadow Treasury Team as they reluctantly sharpen their axes.  Also required reading is their suggested list of £50bn of spending cuts - published with the Institute of Directors.

The Left's charge that the TPA is a Tory front would surprise some Tory Council leaders who have not been spared the TPA's wrath. The TPA has an anti-establishment mentality. Indeed some Conservatives feel they have an anti-politician mentality and fully expect it to be a nuisance to any Cameron Government.

The TPA's Quango hunting, populist denouncing of public sector fat cats, pursuit of expense-abusing politicians and scepticism about the implications of climate change policy will continue to have traction for some years to come.

The TPA's campaign for the abolition of inheritance tax - pursued with the Daily Express - reached a climax in October 2007 when the Conservative Party promised to abolish the tax for all but millionaires.

In 2006 the TPA won the ConservativeHome "One to Watch" award; in 2007 the Bumper Book of Government Waste, co-authored by Matthew Elliott and Lee Rotherham, was awarded the Sir Antony Fisher Memorial Award; and in 2008 the TPA was named 'Pressure Group of the Year' by the readers of the popular blog, Iain Dale's Diary.

Continue reading "Profile of The Taxpayers Alliance" »

The cost of parking fines

"Parking Fines: The £328million Enforcement Industry" (PDF)

Author: Joint report between The TaxPayers' Alliance and The Drivers' Alliance

Publication date: 25 November 2009

This report argues that many people perceive parking enforcement as little more than a money making scheme for councils. It states that a total of £328million of parking fines were received in the year 2008-2009 which is a 16% decrease on the previous year. The decrease is attributed to drivers being more cautious during the recession however in the view of the authors the amount being received is still far too high and the only beneficiaries are the wardens and their bosses.

Cutting back on quangos

"ACA to YJB - A Guide to the UK's Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies"(PDF)

Authors: Ben Farrugia and John O'Connell

Publication date: October 2009

The report addresses the UK's 1,148 Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies (SAPBs) which are more commonly known as quangos. The Government spent an estimated £90billion on or through these organisations in 2007-2008 which was an increase in £13billion from the previous year. This amount represents around £3,640 for every household in Britain. The report acknowledges how hard it is to abolish SAPBs however it urges politicians to dramatically cut spending on them. The report is critical of SAPBs for their unaccountability, their duplication of function and the crony-ism which is rife in them.

The damaging impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme

"The Expensive Failure of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme"(PDF)

Author: Matthew Sinclair

Publication date: October 2009

The report is highly critical of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) which according to the author has increased the cost of energy for households, businesses and other organisations. The report estimates that the ETS cost British consumers nearly £3billion in 2008 alone and that the total cost to European consumers since the implementation of the ETS could be as high as £67billion. The report claims that the ETS is a particular burden on the poor and the elderly as it is raising their energy bills and it should be abolished.