Globalisation:Taxpayers' Alliance: History and Ideology
The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) is a British pressure group formed to tackle the lack of an adequate taxpayers’ organisation in the UK. Founded in 2004 by Andrew Allum, Matthew Elliott and Florence Heath, the Taypayers’ Alliance is Britain's independent, non-partisan campaign for low a tax society and better services (http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/history.html).
Starting out as a volunteer operation, the TPA first came to the attention of the national media with the publication of the first “Bumper Book of Government Waste”. The reception of this research, alongside the strong support led to a rapid and sustained expansion (http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/history.html).
With a full-time team of staff working out of its office in the heart of Westminster, the TPA has firmly established itself as the country's leading voice on transparency and accountability in government; with registered supporters increasing from 5,000 in its first year to a current figure of almost 60,000 supporters. The TPA has also been at the forefront of campaigns against MPs' expenses abuses, the need for public spending transparency, the growth of the quango state, the costs and wastefulness of the EU, and excessive executive public sector pay, among others (http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/history.html).
The TaxPayers' Alliance is Britain's independent grassroots campaign for lower taxes. After years of being ignored by politicians of all parties, the TPA is committed to forcing politicians to listen to ordinary taxpayers. 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.” (http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/mission.html).
To this end, the TaxPayers' Alliance intends to: oppose all tax rises; oppose EU tax harmonisation; criticise all examples of wasteful and unnecessary spending; and champion opportunities for votes on tax and spending (http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/mission.html).
Juxtaposed with their campaign against the misuse of public funds, the Taxpayers' Alliance has set up a charity under a different name which can secure subsidies from the taxman worth up to 40% on individuals' donations (Booth, 2009, The Guardian, London, December 21st, 2009, Pg 1). The former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, stated: "The Taxpayers' Alliance appears to be exploiting the taxpayer rather than protecting their interests as they claim to do; they have now become properly the non-taxpayers' alliance."
The Taxpayers' Alliance campaigns for less waste in government and lower taxes, and earlier this year it emerged that it is funded by leading Tory donors. It claims to represent "a grassroots army of 32,000 supporters" but it has also emerged that a director of the alliance, Alexander Heath, does not pay British tax and lives in France. Its chief executive, Matthew Elliott, strongly denies the alliance is "a Conservative front organisation", but it is influential in Conservative circles. In October 2009 the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, proposed a public sector pay freeze which had been recommended a month earlier by the alliance (Booth, 2009, Guardian).
Their charitable arm received donations worth £373,230 in 2008 and approved 29 grant proposals amounting to £278,520 with the stated aim "to advance the education of the public" and to "promote for the public benefit research into matters of public taxation, public policy, applied economics and political science". Unusually for a charitable trust, the accounts do not name the grant recipients (Booth, 2009, Guardian).
Subsequently TPA has recently come under scrutiny from the Charity Commission following these claims that the TPA was using a charitable branch of its organisation, the Politics and Economics Research trust, to fund politically motivated research (http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/archive/975375/Charity-Commission-opens-investigation-Taxpayers-Alliance/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH).
When confronted about these allegations, Elliott declined to comment. "I will talk about the work of the Taxpayers' Alliance, I will talk about Christmas, but I don't want to talk about this," he said. "We are confident that our funding arrangements fall within the law and the guidance of the Charity Commission." (Booth, 2009, The Guardian, London, December 21st, 2009, Pg 1).
The Charity Commission's guidelines on campaigning and political activity state that "an organisation will not be charitable if its purposes are political". It states that trustees must not allow the charity to be used as a vehicle for the expression of the political views of any individual trustee or staff member.
Despite the alleged non-partisan nature of the TPA, it has been accused of being a Conservative Party "front”, with all three founders, and a number of TPA staff members being affiliated with the Conservative Party and have strong links with the Freedom Association. Alliance backers, such as Anthony Bamford, a director of Staffordshire-based JC Bamford, have also donated large sums of money to the Conservative Party(http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/09/taxpayers-alliance-conservative-pressure-group). However, the group's leadership has denied such an affiliation with the Conservative party.
Additionally, other newspapers, such as the Western Daily Press (2009), have noted the TPA to be comprised of Conservative affiliates. For example, James Barlow, convenor for the Bristol branch, is also Constituency Chairman for the Conservative Party. Dr Lee Rotheram, a policy analyst, is a former "chief of staff" to Tory MP for Wells, David Heathcoat-Amory. National chairman Andrew Allum was a Conservative councillor but "left the party in 2003, having lost faith that it represented his brand of free market, individualist and compassionate politics". Florence Heath, co-founder, "led the student Conservative association at Imperial College for two years as well as the Europe-wide European Young Conservatives, and served on the committee of the local Conservative associations, Conservative friends of Gibraltar." Matthew Sinclair, research director, writes something that was nominated for "the Conservative Home Best Young Conservative Blogger award"." Maria Fort, policy analyst, has "a passion for Conservative politics".
The critics of the TPA ask whether it really is an alliance of ordinary taxpayers, as the name is clearly intended to suggest, and how close it is to the Tory party hierarchy which seems to have adopted some of its radical ideas.
"The idea of tearing down the walls of big government as Cameron did in his speech on Thursday is something we have been talking about for years," said its chief executive, Matthew Elliott, yesterday. "The Tory party has moved onto our agenda." (Booth, 2009, Guardian).
Furthermore, George Osborne's public sector pay freeze was recommended by the TPA last month and Elliott, who describes himself as "a free-market libertarian", said he had been "banging on about" the idea that no public worker should earn more than the prime minister without the chancellor's approval long before Osborne announced it (Booth, 2009, Guardian).
The rightwing media have fallen in love too and the TPA claims a higher profile in print than Friends of the Earth and the Confederation of British Industry. Framed front pages line Elliott's office near the House of Commons as evidence of its success at creating the climate of opinion in which radical cuts to tax and spending can be made.
In the last year the Daily Mail quoted the TPA in 517 articles. The Sun obliged 307 times, once bizarrely on page 3 when a topless Keeley parroted the TPA's line against energy taxes. The Guardian mentioned the group 29 times (Booth, 2009, Guardian).
A Guardian investigation has found that a large part of its funds come from wealthy donors, many of whom are prominent supporters of the Conservative party. 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. Tony Gallagher, owner of Gallagher UK, a property company that gave the Conservatives £250,000 in 2007, is a member of the MIC, as is Christopher Kelly who owns the international haulage firm Keltruck, and Robert Edmiston who owns IM Group, a large car importer (Booth, 2009, Guardian).
Other businessmen named by the TPA as supporters include spread betting tycoon Stuart Wheeler who gave £5m to the Conservatives before he endorsed the UK Independance party (Booth, 2009, Guardian).
