Trump's got it right with the Department of Government Efficiency and Britain needs one– before it’s too late
10 February 2025, 17:12 | Updated: 14 February 2025, 18:25
Britain’s tax burden is at a record high, the national debt has soared past 100% of GDP, and the country feels completely broken.
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Politicians blame external factors - the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, anything but themselves. But the real problem is them: Britain’s MPs.
In the private sector, if you miss deadlines, flunk every project, or waste time on pointless ones, you’re fired. In Westminster? You get a pay rise.
Today, IPSA announced MPs will receive a 2.8% salary boost. While IPSA is technically independent and MPs can’t grant themselves pay rises directly, I highly doubt any of them will lift a finger to stop it.
For years, news like this was met with a weary shrug by the public. But times have changed.
Since President Trump’s re-election and his appointment of Elon Musk to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency - exposing the endless layers of waste inside the American state - calls for a similar department in the UK have grown.
People are fed up with a bloated, unaccountable state that enriches politicians and empowers backroom bureaucrats all the while the rest of the country struggles.
When voters go to the polls, they elect politicians to lead, take decisions and advance the national interest. Instead what they get is MPs terrified to take action and instead shunt everything to endless consultations and delegate decision-making to ever more quangos.
Who governs Britain? Well certainly not politicians. Why, then, the pay rise?
The TaxPayers’ Alliance has fought for taxpayers for two decades, and we know exactly where the fat needs trimming: workshy civil servants, wasteful government departments, and failing MPs.
It’s them who should tighten their belts - not the hard-working taxpayers footing the bill. An MP pay rise isn’t just expensive - it’s unjustifiable.
Why should those who deliver failure after failure pocket even more taxpayers’ cash while making life harder for the very same people who pay their salaries?
Not only should MPs' pay not be increased, but it should be linked to Britain’s economic performance, particularly the key metric of GDP per capita which actually measures living standards. If the country, and its citizens, get poorer, then their pay should be frozen.
Maybe then our politicians will spend less time challenging one another to FIFA matches or calling for more women footballers on birthday cards and more time focusing on the policies that will actually create growth.
- John O'Connell is the Chief Executive of the Taxpayers Alliance.
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