What do you think of The Taxpayers Alliance?

[Eurosceptic]

Who hasn't heard of that lobbyist group, the TPA, but do you think, like a lot of people do, that they are but an arm of the Conservative Party masquerading as a People's Party? They have their own Manifesto and lately have claimed that the coalition government have adopted most of the TPA's ideas.

[soloman]

Who hasn't heard of that lobbyist group, the TPA, but do you think, like a lot of people do, that they are but an arm of the Conservative Party masquerading as a People's Party? They have their own Manifesto and lately have claimed that the coalition government have adopted most of the TPA's ideas.

Possibly because they ought really to be called the Non-Taxpayers Alliance, which is nearer what they aim at! Could be said that is the Conservative Party's aim too?

[Midas]

I don't think the TPA has got a specific political allegiance or agenda other than to ensure that public spending both at a national and a local level, all of which is funded by the taxpayer, is spent wisely and that there is full transparency.

We all know that under Labour, public spending went completely out of control with the consequence that we're now seeing the massive cuts in expenditure necessary to even start to balance the books. The TPA has been highlighting much of this gross waste of taxpayer's money for years, and as such it's not really surprising that many of their recommendations are being adopted by the new coalition government, who're thankfully trying to be responsible with everyone's money. It's quite understandable that they should publicise the fact, regardless of whether there's been any direct discussions between them and either party in the coalition government or not.

This country needs pressure groups such as the TPA in order to do what a government itself should do, and that's both closely monitor expenditure to ensure minimum waste and obtain maximum value for money for the country as a whole and publicise details of where that's patently not the case.

[Balthazar]

The Taxpayers Alliance is run by a bunch Thatcherite headbangers:

The problem is that it isn't an alliance of ordinary taxpayers at all. It is an alliance of right-wing ideologues. Its academic advisory council is a who's who of the proponents of discredited Thatcherite policies, including Eamonn Butler and Madsen Pirie of the Adam Smith Institute, academics Patrick Minford and Kenneth Minogue, and former Institute of Directors policy head Ruth Lea.

Source

So yes, it is a Conservative front organisation, but fronting the "nasty" wing of the party: rich people, parasites and layabouts, who don't need public services because they selfishly spend their money on themselves and b*gger everyone else. Except for police spending, of course, so their piles of dirty cash are protected from the angry poor who've had their services stripped away by the likes of the barking mad Ruth Lea.

[Midas]

The Taxpayers Alliance is run by a bunch Thatcherite headbangers:

The problem is that it isn't an alliance of ordinary taxpayers at all. It is an alliance of right-wing ideologues. Its academic advisory council is a who's who of the proponents of discredited Thatcherite policies, including Eamonn Butler and Madsen Pirie of the Adam Smith Institute, academics Patrick Minford and Kenneth Minogue, and former Institute of Directors policy head Ruth Lea.

Source

So yes, it is a Conservative front organisation, but fronting the "nasty" wing of the party: rich people, parasites and layabouts, who don't need public services because they selfishly spend their money on themselves and b*gger everyone else. Except for police spending, of course, so their piles of dirty cash are protected from the angry poor who've had their services stripped away by the likes of the barking mad Ruth Lea.

Hardly an objective or unbiased source there...... But there'd be hardly any surprise to find that the biggest contributors to the TPA were people from the right wing, who, unlike most of those of the left, promote individual responsibility and don't spend other people's money like it was going out of fashion!

[soloman]

Hardly an objective or unbiased source there...... But there'd be hardly any surprise to find that the biggest contributors to the TPA were people from the right wing, who, unlike most of those of the left, promote individual responsibility and don't spend other people's money like it was going out of fashion!

Unfortunately Midas, Balthazar is unlikely to listen to common sense!

[manrow]

Hardly an objective or unbiased source there...... But there'd be hardly any surprise to find that the biggest contributors to the TPA were people from the right wing, who, unlike most of those of the left, promote individual responsibility and don't spend other people's money like it was going out of fashion!

What a wonderful summary, I cannot improve upon it!