The TaxPayers' Alliance focuses on the big picture - by John O'Connell, TaxPayers' Alliance
- Michael Julien
- Nov 22, 2025
- 2 min read
The Chancellor is set to make next week a bad one with her Budget announcement - but I wanted to share some highlights from a successful week for the TPA. For all the vital work we do on the ground and in rooting out waste, it’s important to keep a focus on the big picture.
Our researcher Anne Strickland put together a fantastic (and frightening) paper, exploring what action would be needed to get our gargantuan debt under control. General government gross debt stands at 101 per cent of GDP. The European Central Bank finds that debt starts to seriously hamper growth once it passes 67 per cent of GDP. Taking the Maastricht treaty target of 60 per cent, Anne calculated that reducing the debt to that level within 10 years would require an annual surplus of nearly 5 per cent, equivalent to £137 billion in this year alone. A tall order…
Anne’s paper features in this week’s Spectator cover story by Tim Shipman, with its own dedicated article on the Speccie’s website.
That’s not all. Other highlights this week include:
Jonathan Eida’s paper on the growth of financial regulators splashed the front page City AM and was cited in an op-ed by Shadow Secretary of State for Business Andrew Griffith MP
Our research on the enormous strain the taxman places on the Great British pub received LBC coverage and was the subject of this week’s podcast
Zia Yusuf mentioned two of our recent investigations into wasteful spending at press conferences: training tax collectors in Ethiopia on creating a “tax environment that encourages business” and £88 Million splurge on contraception in Pakistan
Anne recorded a video on tourist taxes that has (so far) been watched 67,000 times across social media platforms
Our data specialist, Simon, has reached over 120,000 people so far with a tweet this morning on the Department for Education’s bonkers breakfast club video
And there’s more to come today as we respond to the Covid Inquiry. Our recent work into its outrageous cost is being used by most journalists as the reference point, and our team should be on TV later today discussing it.
Thanks for your support and have a lovely weekend,
John
P.S. If you haven’t received your copy of our annual review, please let me know.
John O'Connell, Chief Executive
TaxPayers' Alliance, 55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL
+ 44 (0)20 7340 6020
24-hour media line: 07795 084113 (No texts)
@jjpoconnell
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