Government e-petition: Link the personal tax free allowance to a cost of living index
The annual personal tax free allowance of £12,570 has been frozen since 2020 and is not due to be reviewed until 2028 unless of course this petition stirs up a hornet’s nest, by getting people engaged to prove that the voice of the people is listened to and acted upon.
There has been a cost of living crisis for a few years now and the effect of this is that more and more people are struggling to keep their heads above water and there is an increasing number who are unable to do so.
I recently spoke with a volunteer at a foodbank who said that there has been an increase in those needing to access this service who are both in work and with mortgages. Britain is supposed to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world and yet we have this crisis which is simply not being addressed effectively by those elected to ‘govern’. That is despicable and whilst I may be fortunate by birth I am ashamed to be British, where poverty in this day and age exists to the extent it does in the UK.
When I started this petition to prove the point about how inflation is eroding the value of money I came across the Bank of England's inflation calculator. I keyed in the annual personal allowance £12,570 and the date when this allowance was frozen, 2020 . A review date was also set for 2028. The current administration has decided not to change that review date, so this allowance continues to buy less and less, or looking at it in another way people are having to find more and more simply to keep pace with rising prices. Belt tightening-if of course you can even afford the belt.
In March of this year the inflation calculator showed that £12,570 required £15,732 to buy the same goods and services as at prices in 2020.
At the end of May I thought an update might be a good idea and the uplift in prices in one month is simply staggering. This calculator now gives an increase of £187 in one month.
There was a petition asking for this allowance to be increased to £20k which achieved over 260,000 signatures. It is available here. It ends with a Treasury Minister stating there is no plan to review this allowance until 2028. (Even then it may not change).
Inflation can be caused by market forces, too much demand, too little supply, or other factors. It is these ‘other factors’ that are often overlooked in government narratives. Governments make mistakes. In recent years there have been more mistakes than you can care to think of. Yet it is always the taxpayer that has to foot the bill. Is it any wonder this country is sliding down the tubes?
As part of raising awareness of this petition I have travelled to numerous places and the state of many of the town and city centres is simply unbelievable. They look run down, boarded up shop fronts, really depressing places, probably because the local council has no money in the pot, another story.
Returning to the other contributory inflationary factors. Firstly, the last government’s failed Rwandan Asylum scheme quote:
“Incoming Interior minister Yvette Cooper said that month that the plan had already cost UK taxpayers 700 million pounds ($890 million).
A British government spokesperson said in an emailed statement Cooper had been clear that the Rwanda asylum partnership had wasted tax-payer money and should not continue”. (my emphasis). Reuters 4 March 2025
It has also been made known that not a single penny given to Rwanda is to be returned to the UK. This cost the taxpayer £715m. The Migration Observatory 30/05/2025
Wasted tax payers money has to be contributing to inflation. It’s one of a number of holes in the UK bucket. That money could have been put to good use. Instead the ‘hard’, (don’t politicians love to use that word) working people of this country are being made to pay for what can only be called incompetence and a lack of accountability.
Contracts for medical equipment during the covid pandemic-where it was clearly a case of not what you know (asking the right questions pre-procurement pretty basic stuff: does it meet standards? Does it do the job?), but more a case of who you know. Such a fine standard the UK government sets and the sarcasm is intended.
Undoubtedly the proven non-value add of leaving the EU has also had significant and ongoing inflationary costs. All borne by the hapless living and doubtless yet to be born taxpayer. Some future?
I for one do not think the average ‘hard’ working person needs to continue on this disastrous journey we’re being subjected to. Let’s start here and either begin to see a change, or more of the same. The link to the petition can be found here: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/710008 or via the QR code.