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This article first appeared in my bi-weekly free Tomograph newsletter. I guess it now merits a wider audience. If you would like more of the same sent to you by email (including a free share tip in the midweek issue sign up HERE In the old days when the Conservative party was led by a proper Tory ( i.e. Margaret Thatcher) it used to believe that the individual should be given the freedom to take responsibility for himself or herself. That meant the State not relieving you of too much money but also not being expected to cosset you, but providing a safety net for those who genuinely needed it. Those days are gone.
We saw this in dramatic form this week as Call Me Dave scrapped plans to increase the IHT threshold but at the same time caved in on giving more state funding for residential care for the elderly. He was wrong ( as per usual) on both counts, pandering to the electorate and in so trashing further any idea that he is a man of true conservative principle.
Inheritance Tax is wrong as I explained here. It is a tax on income that has already ( however long ago) been taxed already. The act that the threshold remains at £235,000 and will remain so until 2020 means that almost anyone owning a house in England outside the Grim Northern Shit Hole towns will pay it. The really rich (Call Me Dave, George Osborne, Nick Clegg & Chris Huhne) will employ astute tax planning and will dodge it. It is the middle and working classes who will get stiffed with the double tax. If you are a deluded lefty ( my Dad) and want to pay tax twice go write a cheque to the Government if you want to. If you hate your kids leave your estate to Charity. But that should be your call.
Having said that why on earth should the State pay a cent for residential care for an old person who has either income or an asset which can be realised (their house)? Residential care is something one typically needs for the last 18 months of your life. It is obscene that the state should pay a cent towards this care if that means you are left bequeathing wealth to your kids, a charity or Hackney Council ( if you are a deluded lefty). The rules should be simple. If you have no wealth or income you should get state care in basic accommodation. If you wish to avoid living in an old folks Butlins you have to save and pay. If you save/build up assets worth more than 18 times £2000 ( your average spend in a private home) you get to leave everything else to whoever you want.
I was tweeted by a Tory activist saying that to raise the IHT threshold would be “politically unacceptable” and so I should stop banging on about how Call Me Dave has reneged on a promise. Take that to extremis. Forget about the deficit just go bribe the electorate by handing out bribes all round, spending taxpayers cash to win votes with pointless gestures. What on earth is the point in voting Tory if all you get is Call Me Dave abandoning basic Tory principles in the vain hope that he will be re-elected in 2015. If I want a Social Democrat government which believes in spending cash on bribes for those who can support themselves anyway while stealing money from hard working folks with a double tax I can go vote Labour or Lib Dem. If Call Me Dave simply offers me the same sort of deficit denying, nanny State hogwash what is the point of the Conservative party?
In playing to a middle ground the Modern Conservative party alienates a whole swathe of the electorate who should be sympathetic but will increasingly vote UKIP, not bother voting at all or just emigrate and leave this country to bankruptcy, bossiness and misery. As each week goes by I find myself with another reason to despise Call Me Dave and to despair of the party he is leading into the wilderness. This week was unusual. There were several new reasons for that despising and despair.
Tom Winnifrith writes for 10 websites in the UK and US. To get a free twice weekly newsletter from him (The Tomograph) with links to all his articles plus some unique content like the piece above and a free share tip in the Wednesday edition register HERE
You can also follow Tom on twitter @tomwinnifrith
I am considering becoming a nannyI would go to North west Nannies institutebut Im not sure…A lot of people say that I will regret it.Any advice???I always used to want to go to a university and become a teacher, but now I’m not sure.I think being a live in nanny seems fun.
He didn’t listen about Grace; mama Patton don’t like her either.