The self styled (and self appointed) "Taxpayers' Alliance" are a small, grumpy, shadowy organisation that promotes slashing public services, having ultra low taxes and abolishing inheritance tax. It spreads pernicious propaganda and misrepresents facts to paint a false picture of the public sector.
As the country charts its way through these difficult economic times we expect more ill informed propaganda from them. We want to warn readers of this blog that this organisation has no legitimacy.
Now you might expect a trade union such as UNISON to be opposed to them. But it's not just trade unions that oppose them even leading Tories do! The Tory Deputy Leader of Kensington and Chelsea, Cllr Daniel Moylan, has called them "insidious anarchists." He has gone on to say:
As the country charts its way through these difficult economic times we expect more ill informed propaganda from them. We want to warn readers of this blog that this organisation has no legitimacy.
Now you might expect a trade union such as UNISON to be opposed to them. But it's not just trade unions that oppose them even leading Tories do! The Tory Deputy Leader of Kensington and Chelsea, Cllr Daniel Moylan, has called them "insidious anarchists." He has gone on to say:
I personally have no doubt that the Taxpayers’ Alliance would have been amongst the opponents of the project to build sewers for London in the nineteenth century. Society, particularly urban society, is complex. A civilised society is dependent on a degree of civic co-operation, which happily has tended to be under democratic control in this country. The Taxpayers’ Alliance seeks simultaneously to crush that civic effort and to de-democratise what remains. They are dangerous people masquerading as promoters of lower taxes and better government.
You wouldn't expect UNISON to agree with the Tory Deputy Council Leader in affluent Kensington and Chelsea on many things. But on this we do. We are happy to agree with him that the Taxpayers' Alliance are indeed "dangerous people.”
Thankfully a proper response to the Taxpayers' Alliance has been set up - The (Other) Taxpayers' Alliance. This organisation wants "fairer taxes, not lower taxes." You can click on the link to see more about them. Three of our favourite bits of this website are:
- the article on "Those Union Wreckers" which asks you to "imagine if the economic crisis had been caused by trade unions....." and asks you to consider what action would have been taken against the unions to stop it happening again. It then contrasts the action that has not been taken against the banks who did cause this crisis. It’s food for thought.
- the articles on who The Taxpayers' Alliance really are and about their secret and shadowy funding arrangements. Go to the homepage and scroll down the page for these two articles
- the amusing Taxpayers' Alliance quote generator that produces random knee jerk quotes that would typically come from them.
- the article on "Those Union Wreckers" which asks you to "imagine if the economic crisis had been caused by trade unions....." and asks you to consider what action would have been taken against the unions to stop it happening again. It then contrasts the action that has not been taken against the banks who did cause this crisis. It’s food for thought.
- the articles on who The Taxpayers' Alliance really are and about their secret and shadowy funding arrangements. Go to the homepage and scroll down the page for these two articles
- the amusing Taxpayers' Alliance quote generator that produces random knee jerk quotes that would typically come from them.
So, next time you hear the Taxpayers’ Alliance being quoted, remember they are a self appointed bunch of right wing ideologues who worship at the alter of destructive and discredited Thatcherite free market economics. And even Tories think they are "dangerous" people!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment