TaxPayers' Alliance Launch War on Waste Roadshow as Debt Increases by Nearly £4,000 a Second

• The TaxPayers' Alliance today (Friday) launches the War on Waste Roadshow at 12pm on College Green, Westminster
• The launch sees activists and TaxPayers' Alliance staff gather for a lively event and short speech by Chief Executive Jonathan Isaby
• New calculations by the TaxPayers' Alliance show the UK's public sector debt burden is rising at £3,950 a second, putting a luxury Disney holiday on the country's credit card with every tick of the clock

The TaxPayers' Alliance, in its tenth year, today launches the 29-stop, 9-day War on Waste Roadshow in Westminster, with TaxPayers' Alliance staff and local activists calling on public sector bosses to strip out waste from a campaign battle bus and a colourful pop-up stand. Among the stops are the constituency offices of the leaders of the three main political parties, the Grey's Monument in Newcastle, Exchange Square in Manchester and Birmingham Town Hall. The Roadshow will highlight examples of wasteful and inefficient spending across England and Wales, such as:

• The £4,450 Nottingham Council managed to spend on an office Christmas tree
• The two wind turbines, costing some £30,000, which generated just £95 of electricity in their first year
• The £25,000 that the Arts Council of Wales spent to send an artist to South America so that he might put his experiences on a blog
• Sandwell Council spending £24,060 on appearance fees for minor celebrities including Keith Chegwin and Eastenders actor Neil McDermott
• An art gallery with a cool £72 million price tag that closed down because nobody wanted it, asked for it, or visited it

Full details of the tour, including stop locations and timings, can be found here.

Earlier this year, the TaxPayers' Alliance showed that some £120 billion of taxpayers' money was wasted last year, a figure almost equal to the deficit.

New calculations by the TaxPayers' Alliance demonstrate that the public debt burden tops £1.3 trillion, and is rising by £3,950 a second - the equivalent of putting a family holiday to Disneyland Florida on the country's credit card. Cutting out waste will be a necessary part of bringing that down.

At the launch, TaxPayers' Alliance Chief Executive Jonathan Isaby will say:

"Far too much taxpayers' money is wasted, keeping taxes high and taking precious resources away from essential services. It's time for a war on waste right across the public sector.

"It would be nothing short of immoral to saddle the next generation with our trillion-pound debt mountain. We need to strip out wasteful and unnecessary spending and start living within our means again.

"For too long taxpayers' money has been spent with impunity, with little accountability and not enough transparency. The War on Waste hopes to change that and remind those we trust with our money that we're watching how it is spent very carefully indeed."

TPA spokesmen are available for live and pre-recorded broadcast interviews via 07795 084 113 (no texts)

- Ends -

Notes to Editors:

1. Founded in 2004 by Matthew Elliott and now with 80,000 supporters, the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) fights to reform taxes, cut spending and protect taxpayers. Find out more about the TaxPayers' Alliance at www.taxpayersalliance.com

2. Sources

Nottingham City Council's expensive Christmas tree, TaxPayers' Alliance
Councils waste millions on ineffective wind turbines, Daily Telegraph
£25,000 on a "Creative Wales Ambassador" award, Arts Council of Wales
Thousands spent on celebs for council events, Express & Star
The Public art gallery to close, BBC News

3. Details of the UK's Public Sector Debt burden can be found at www.debt-clock.org.

4. Full details of the War on Waste Roadshow are available atwww.taxpayersalliance.com/roadshow.

Notes to Picture Editors:

1. Picture opportunities at the launch and at all stops will include TaxPayers' Alliance material, including a giant mat depicting money going down the drain, a 5-foot cardboard pop-up depicting burning money, and a number of placard-holding activists.

2. The TaxPayers' Alliance will be taking high-resolution photos at the launch and at all stops. Please email andy.silvester@taxpayersalliance.com for further details.