Thursday, November 08, 2007

Did Treasury 'mole' leak Labour's inheritance tax plan to Tories...?

Treasury documents released to the Daily Telegraph tonight prove that Labour was planning to cut inheritance tax months before the Tories announced it as their idea.

The Tories claimed that Labour's budget announcement last month which cut inheritance tax was an ideal 'stolen' from the Tories.

In the Commons, David Cameron challenged Gordon Brown to look me in the eye and say there were plans to cut inheitance tax before the Tory announcement.

But Treasury documents from as early as last January show how the plans to cut inheritance tax were developed and completely vindicate the Prime Minister.

The papers have been released under the Freedom of Information Act (itself delivered by Labour!!)

Meanwhile, Channel Four News reports that a senior Tory has admitted that they have a 'mole' deep inside the Treasury.

So if anyone's guilty of 'theft', it's the Tories!

Will David Cameron look Gordon Brown in the eye and apologise...?

No. Didn't think so.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Inheritance Tax is the fairest way.

OK, leave the ordinary family alone. You can be exempt for the first £300,000 and pay a slice over that amount.

Those of us who support Inheritance Tax as the least painful way of raising cash, who do we vote for now that Labour has abandoned us?

Chris Paul said...

Brynley - Labour have changed IHT but not all that much really. Couples with tax planning were getting £600,000 anyway. Allowing every couple that is fairness. And adding 15% given the recent strength of the housing market is hardly ground breaking. Tories were putting it up to £2 million for a couple. This is around three times the Labour figure. THREE TIMES!!

fairdealphil said...

brynley:

You may be assured that Labour has not abandoned inheritance tax.

As Chris says, there's a gulf between fairness with increases in thresholds to reflect the housing market and the Tories who propose huge tax breaks for a few millionaires, rather than invest in modern schools and hospitals for the the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

What is happening is a contest for who can abandon the most inheritance tax.

Which is fine.

If you are a fund manager.

But not.

If you are an ordinary citizen who relies on schools, trains, social security and the NHS.

I vote for the party which is honest enough to admit that inheritance tax (with a threshold that excludes nine tenths of all estates) is the fairest way.