I’ve been terribly uninspired about what to write about on this blog recently. What more is there to say about Gordon’s brown trouser moment? I’m dreadfully bored of it to tell you the truth.
The one thing that has interested me is that the narrative that is emerging is that Cameron has emerged from this in a strong position, with Gideon Osborne’s tax announcements being hailed as genius. This does rather smack of the same self-delusion and hubris that felled Brown. The only thing the Tories achieved last week was to squeak about a couple of modest policy announcements and to avoid a meltdown. The former is, admittedly, not something we have heard from them in literally years while the latter was a remarkable turn of events given the last 15 years, but what seems to be getting forgotten is that their current standing in the polls is no less a post-conference bounce than Labour’s was last week.
Something tells me that they’ll be back to their fun and games in no time. Jim Knight’s announcement about Grammar School ballots is calculated to engineer a Tory split. Perhaps it is too calculating and will thus fail to launch, but it is based on a sound premise: the Tory capacity for internecine warfare over minor issues is without limit. Sooner or later they will bite, and the party itself has already asserted its dominance over its weak and vacillating leader. Expect a few more lurches to the right over the next few months.
Anyway, blah blah blah, you’ve heard it all before no doubt. Apols for being so boring. But really, have you seen the material I’ve got to work with here? Good grief! I’m out of ideas - if you want me to blog about something, make a suggestion in the comments. Otherwise, all you’ll be getting is reviews of Buffy comics and 2000AD. You have been warned. Ta.
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Raising IHT thresholds is not a stroke of genius. It’s just plain common sense, and I’d like to know why that isn’t Lib Dem policy too.
Because we have a fairer alternative - an accessions tax - something which you would know if you had any real interest in the party other than to denigrate it from within.
Alternatively, I might know it if someone were effectively communicating our policies to the general public. So, pray tell – what is this “accessions tax” of which you speak?
Yes but isn’t the fact that such a great policy idea is only really known to people who take a serious active interest in the Lib Dems part of the problem we have though? Of course, not necessarily a bad thing that it’s low profile for now. Wish we’d promote it as ’scrapping inheritance tax’ rather than ‘We’re introducing Accession Tax’ like we did with local income tax. ‘we’re introducing Local Income Tax’ says something quite different to ‘we’re scrapping Council Tax’ doesn’t it?
How come the party that hates Council Tax the most isn’t tapping into the public’s antipathy towards it? *sigh*
But, on your actual post.. I take it there’s nothing going on in the Lib Dems worth talking about then? :S
Have you thought about talking about issues? I mean, it’s just an idea of course and I wouldn’t recommend turning into Mr Preachy McPreachypants but maybe just drawing attention to one or two things couldn’t hurt?
Seriously, if there’s nothing getting your blood boiling then what are you doing being involved with politics?
Write something… liberal. Yes, that’s it. Try that
Accession Tax is all about looking at the wealth of the beneficiary, not the size of the estate. It’s brilliant.
Hey Charlotte, you sound really nice! Though the way you describe accession tax makes it sound like a form of means testing. I thought we were against that in general?
The reason we haven’t been banging on about accession tax is because we have been banging on about cutting income tax, a policy which affects far more people. The message to the public is that when it boils down to a choice between cutting income taxes and cutting wealth taxes, the Lib Dems opt for the former while the Tories opt for the latter. Plus ça change, particularly as we head towards the centenary of the People’s Budget.
Hi Lawrence
Nice is nice, if you can do it nicely.
Well, you could probably argue that progressive banded income tax was a form of means testing. Depends which way you look at it, I suppose?
I suppose really it just brings inherited wealth into the sphere of income or capital gains with very generous allowances. It’s a little bit redistributive, but nothing too heavy handed.
I still think people will say, “but tax has already been paid on it!!” Not sure people really consider the long term consequences of generation after generation passing on their wealth. Can’t help wanting to aim towards ensuring that the ladder goes all the way to the bottom, so that anyone can climb up if they have the desire and will to do so.
Note that the latest poll puts clunking fist on 40%, Dave from PR on 38%, and Ming the Merciless on 13%. So the Great Cameron Bounce is already dead-catting.