a nation of taxpayers

A podcast from the Taxpayers' Alliance. Talking politics and highlighting waste in all forms of government and the public sector. Presented by Duncan Barkes with guests from the Taxpayers' Alliance and from across the world of politics.On X, follow the TaxPayers' Alliance @the_tpa More links and info here: https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/

a nation of taxpayers is a news podcast hosted by Duncan Barkes, with 101 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Duncan Barkes hosts a nation of taxpayers, a news show with 101 episodes published.

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  Episode #36

  Benefits Britain Is Out of Control

  Sep 24, 202631 minS2

  Britain's welfare bill is set to climb above £400 billion by the end of the decade, while disability benefits linked to mental health have more than doubled in just five years. But what is driving the surge, and can the current system be sustained? Podcast host Duncan Barkes is joined by the TPA's William Yarwood and Shimeon Lee to discuss the growing cost of Britain's welfare state and new TaxPayers' Alliance research into Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments. They examine the rise in working-age benefit claims, the sharp growth in PIP claims linked to mental health conditions, the parts of the country where dependency is most concentrated, and what these trends mean for taxpayers.

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  Episode #35

  It's Time to Abolish Inheritance Tax

  Sep 17, 202630 minS2

  Inheritance tax is one of Britain's most unpopular taxes, and the political pressure to scrap it is now growing. Podcast host Duncan Barkes is joined by the TPA's William Yarwood and the Adam Smith Institute's Maxwell Marlow to make the case for abolishing inheritance tax, as the Conservatives explore plans to scrap the levy altogether. They discuss why inheritance tax penalises saving, investment and families trying to pass on what they have built, whether abolition could boost growth, and how the lost revenue could be covered through spending restraint rather than higher taxes elsewhere.

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  Episode #34

  The Government Spends Like A Drunken Sailor

  Sep 10, 202631 minS2

  Britain's government is spending eye-watering sums across an ever-growing state, but where is all that money actually going? Podcast host Duncan Barkes is joined by the TPA's William Yarwood and Shimeon Lee to discuss the TaxPayers' Alliance's latest Spending Factbook, which lays bare the scale of government spending and how taxpayers' money is being used across Whitehall and the wider public sector. They examine which areas of government are consuming the most cash, how spending has changed over time, where the biggest pressures are coming from, and why successive governments have struggled to get the public finances under control. Read the new factbook here

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  Episode #33

  Growth of the Civil Service is Out of Control

  Sep 3, 202631 minS2

  Britain's civil service has ballooned by a third in just a decade, leaving taxpayers funding more than half a million officials and a salary bill of over £22 billion. Podcast host Duncan Barkes is joined by the TPA's research director Darwin Friend and former TPA chairman Mike Denham to discuss new TaxPayers' Alliance research into the growth of the civil service, which reveals headcount has risen from 418,340 in 2016 to 557,825 in 2026. They examine the explosion in senior officials and six-figure salaries, why Whitehall continues to expand despite repeated promises of reform, and whether shifting civil servants around the country really amounts to decentralisation.

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  Episode #32

  The Lies About Britain's Real National Debt

  Aug 27, 202636 minS2

  Britain's official national debt is already heading towards £3 trillion, but the real burden facing taxpayers is far higher. Podcast host Duncan Barkes is joined by the TPA's William Yarwood and Anne Strickland to discuss new TaxPayers' Alliance research into the real national debt, which highlights the government's true liabilities at £11.7 trillion, or almost four times the size of the UK economy. They examine why headline debt figures fail to capture the full scale of state pension promises, public-sector pensions, PFI commitments, and nuclear decommissioning costs. They also discuss how debt interest is swallowing ever more public money, why welfare spending is becoming impossible to ignore, and how political cowardice has left future taxpayers with an enormous bill.

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