TaxPayers' Alliance
Logo of the TaxPayers' Alliance
|
|
| Abbreviation | TPA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2004 |
| Type |
Pressure group and taxpayers union |
| Legal status | Limited company (The TaxPayers' Alliance Limited) |
| Purpose | Campaign for a low tax society |
| Headquarters | London |
|
Membership
|
18,000 (2008) |
|
Chief Executive
|
John O'Connell |
|
Staff
|
13 (2009) |
| Website | www.taxpayersalliance.com |
The TaxPayers' Alliance is a British pressure group and think tank formed in 2004 to campaign for a low tax society. The group had about 18,000 registered supporters as of 2008, and claimed to have 55,000 by September 2010.
The TPA was referred to in The Guardian as "arguably the most influential pressure group in the country" in 2009.
The TPA was founded in 2004 by "a group of "libertarian" Conservatives, frustrated by what they saw as the party's decision to ditch its traditional tax cutting message." At the time the Conservative Party felt the need to match the Labour Party's spending plans, and the TPA aimed to represent, in the words of founder and Chief Executive Matthew Elliott, those "who want to have lower taxes and lower spending". The attraction for donors, many associated with the Conservatives, is the ability of the TPA "to "fly kites" for policy ideas that may go on to be adopted as Conservative policy."
The TPA's campaigning approach focussed on the media, relying in part on the reduction in journalists' investigation budgets. It aims to shape public opinion through the media by packaging its research "into brief, media-friendly research papers, complete with an eye-catching headline figure to give reporters a ready-made "top line"." Its research is often based on "using the government's own data and Freedom of Information requests to winkle out examples of public sector waste".
The TPA's income from donations rose from around £68,000 in 2005 to around £1m in 2009.
In September 2010, it was reported that the TaxPayers' Alliance was organising an event sponsored by several American lobbyists and groups involved in the Tea Party movement, including the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. The Alliance has also sought advice from the Tea Party leadership, with Matthew Elliott stating in September 2010: "We need to learn from our European colleagues and the Tea Party movement in the US. It will be fascinating to see whether it will transfer to the UK. Will there be the same sort of uprising?"
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