Lefties dreaming up another "inheritance" tax

[DimPrawn]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008...ax.gordonbrown

The campaign is launched with a Fabian pamphlet that claims Brown's "panic-stricken failure" to stand his ground on the tax in face of the Tory challenge last autumn led to the decision to postpone the general election, and to a wider loss of nerve.

The campaign, likely to be seen as a further challenge to the prime minister's authority, is launched in a letter in the Guardian today from leading figures on the left backing the pamphlet's assertion that inheritance tax is vital to a society that believes in equal life chances. They call for a citizen-led initiative to restate the moral case for inheritance tax.

The authors broadly support a tax on lifetime savings, starting at £80,000, rather than a tax on estates at death.

They say it "is patently unfair to tax earnings from hard work while leaving unearned inheritances and gifts - which often reflect nothing more than an accident of birth - untaxed. Inequality in financial inheritances contributes to overall inequality of opportunity."


Looks to me like anyone with more than £80K in the bank is going to have to hand the rest over to Labour to pay for the banking bailout.

[M_B]

Thats going to be a real vote winner that.

They must be pretty confident about the next election.

[The Master]

They say it "is patently unfair to tax earnings from hard work while leaving unearned inheritances and gifts - which often reflect nothing more than an accident of birth - untaxed. Inequality in financial inheritances contributes to overall inequality of opportunity."

Well if this is true then surely the only "fair" inheritance tax is one levied at 100% on all estates worth more than £0?

To be applied to members of the Fabian Society and NuLie politicians first.

[DiscoStu]

I wonder if the New Liebour solution to rising global food prices will be collective farms?

[TimberWolf]

I wonder if the New Liebour solution to rising global food prices will be collective farms?

Maybe we should start thinking vertically about food production. Forget land and soil, go straight to the source and farm air. It's got all the elements we need for food, and in fact apparently has too much of what we need, and is in 3D instead of poxy two. i.e air + chemistry + sunlight = goo we eat. Population growth could then increase almost limitlessly. Sorted.

[BoredBloke]

Maybe we should start thinking vertically about food production. Forget land and soil, go straight to the source and farm air. It's got all the elements we need for food, and in fact apparently has too much of what we need, and is in 3D instead of poxy two. i.e air + chemistry + sunlight = goo we eat. Population growth could then increase almost limitlessly. Sorted.

The nutrients are a bit on the thin side though!

[TimberWolf]

The nutrients are a bit on the thin side though!

About a kilogram per cubic meter. It's mainly the energy we need though, which could be in the form of simple sugars, like what plants produce.

[BrilloPad]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008...ax.gordonbrown

The campaign is launched with a Fabian pamphlet that claims Brown's "panic-stricken failure" to stand his ground on the tax in face of the Tory challenge last autumn led to the decision to postpone the general election, and to a wider loss of nerve.

The campaign, likely to be seen as a further challenge to the prime minister's authority, is launched in a letter in the Guardian today from leading figures on the left backing the pamphlet's assertion that inheritance tax is vital to a society that believes in equal life chances. They call for a citizen-led initiative to restate the moral case for inheritance tax.

The authors broadly support a tax on lifetime savings, starting at £80,000, rather than a tax on estates at death.

They say it "is patently unfair to tax earnings from hard work while leaving unearned inheritances and gifts - which often reflect nothing more than an accident of birth - untaxed. Inequality in financial inheritances contributes to overall inequality of opportunity."


Looks to me like anyone with more than £80K in the bank is going to have to hand the rest over to Labour to pay for the banking bailout.

by savings do they just mean cash in the bank? What about bank accounts overseas?

[The Master]

Soylent Green is People...

Shhhhhhh.....

[Marina]

From the article:

The pamphlet on inheritance tax has the backing of the Labour chairman of the work and pensions select committee, Terry Rooney, as well as Julian Le Grand and Roger Liddle, former advisers to Tony Blair, and the general secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber. Fiona MacTaggart, Labour MP for Slough, also supports the reform.

I wouldn't worry - Any initiative that involves a kook like Julian Le Grand can safely be ignored.

P.S. Even most labour MPs have no time for the crank. He's nothing but an embarrassment.