Peter Rhodes on juggling with tax, falling out over apostrophes and warfare as a spectacle for the masses
Now, watch this trick very carefully. Tomorrow the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt may scrap or reduce inheritance tax (IHT).
This will leave a multi-billion pound hole in the public purse. However will he fill it? For the answer, look no further than Wales. The Welsh Government is considering re-banding houses for council tax (Wales today, us tomorrow?).
The change could mean people in tiny houses paying less and those living in mansions paying more. It sounds grand but the lesson of history is that when taxes are aimed at the wealthy, a lot of unsuspecting folk suddenly find themselves defined as wealthy. So your liability for inheritance tax goes down but your council tax goes up. Abracadabra, and the show goes on.
Why is Inheritance Tax abbreviated to IHT? Possibly because people who are good at sums aren't particularly good at spelling.
The NHS's scheme to eradicate cervical cancer by 2040 with a combination of vaccinations and smear tests is great news. But 100 per cent success depends on 100 per cent support. Two problems. Firstly, women do not enjoy smear tests. Secondly, the anti-vax movement which resurfaced in the Covid pandemic is still going strong. A doctor writing to the Daily Telegraph noted a few days ago “a large and growing scepticism of all vaccines” which could spell “a return to the dark ages”.
History repeats itself. During the Crimean War (1853-56), local residents and camp followers would enjoy a day out watching great battles being fought. Until recently, we were revolted by historical accounts of such grisly voyeurism. And then YouTube came along. Screening today: an entire Russian convoy smashed by Ukrainian artillery. Warfare - for your entertainment.
In the Hampshire village of Twyford, residents have won a 12-month battle with the council which dropped an apostrophe on a street sign, turning St Mary's Terrace (with an apostrophe) into St Marys Terrace (without). The council at first insisted that apostrophes made postal deliveries more difficult “particularly with modern computer systems”, before backing down and reinstating the apostrophe. Locals are said to be delighted.
But couldn't these perennial name-plate spats be cured just by dropping any sense of possession in street signs? Thus there would be no St Mary's Crescent or St Marys Crescent, just a plain St Mary Crescent. Simple's, innit?
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