Prescott: Taxpayers' Alliance a Tory front
Former deputy PM puts the boot into tax lobby group as nothing more than a Tory front
A high-profile tax lobby group has been branded as a front for the
Conservative Party by former deputy prime minister John Prescott.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance was closely linked to the Tories and the BBC must
reconsider how it presents their views, he argued.
A Guardian investigation at the weekend found that the group received funding
from some leading Tory donors, and that one of its directors lives abroad and
does not pay tax.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TPA, said Prescott’s claim was a ”
joke”.
He said the TPA had a number of donors who gave to Labour when Blair and
Prescott were in charge, and engages with the Lib Dems.
“Anybody familiar with the TPA would know that we have been as much a thorn
in the side of the Conservatives, particularly when Tory councils waste money
and their economic policy is insufficiently bold to tackle the fiscal crisis.”