What is the Taxpayers’ Alliance really about?

by Anthony Painter / @anthonypainter

So is the Taxpayers’ Alliance a ‘campaign group for lower taxes and better government’ or is it a ‘right wing pressure group’?

Well, the Other Taxpayers’ Alliance makes a convincing case that it is the latter. It offers a series of useful tips on reporting the Taxpayers’ Alliance for the media:

1. Give context

The TaxPayers’ Alliance is a right-wing pressure group – and so should be described as a ‘right-wing pressure group’. Additional adjectives may be used at your discretion.

2. Use initiative

When presented with a TPA press release, aim to rewrite at least half of it. Try getting a second opinion. Or failing that, Google.

3. Add perspective

The TPA calls itself a ‘grassroots alliance’ of ‘ordinary taxpayers’. But it doesn’t have a membership – just a free-to-join mailing list of 20,000, which represents 0.04% of taxpayers. This compares with, say, the 1.3 million taxpayers who are members of the public sector trade union, Unison.

4. Name names

‘Ordinary taxpayers’ who support the TPA include: Sir Tom Cowie (Life President, Arriva), Sir Rocco Forte (Chairman, Rocco Forte Hotels), Peter Hargreaves (CEO, Hargreaves Lansdown), Malcolm H.D. McAlpine, (Director, Sir Robert McAlpine), Stuart Wheeler (Chairman, IG Group), and Lords Salisbury, Pearson, Derwent, Hodgson, Chadlington, Kalms and Vinson.

5. Investigate

Who funds the TaxPayers’ Alliance? Why won’t it tell us – or even reveal its income?

Just in case you want it even simpler, they have provided a useful flow-chart on reporting the TPA:

I’ll leave it you guys to slug it out. But in the meantime- especially the libertarian and Tory trolls amongst you- have a play with the quote generator and save time on your comments.