It looks as if the seat with the least amount of people standing in it is Buckingham, where the current Speaker, John Bercow is standing. It's usually tradition that the major parties don't stand against the speaker as it's more of a formality, with Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems declining to field a candidate. Although interestingly, the other two parties standing are UKIP and the Greens. I doubt that Bercow will lose his seat, and I imagine it would be next to impossible for one of the candidates to lose their deposit.

 

Now here's one for you - which constituency has the most candidates standing in it?

The PM's constituency is always a good contender, so I'll go for Witney.

Witney's got twelve candidates listed amongst them a party looking to reduce the VAT for Sport, the Wessex Regionalists, and some party going by the rather strange name of "Give Me Back Elmo". I do have a feeling that there's at least one constituency with more candidates running though.

Meanwhile, the Tories have announced their latest bright idea. They want to reduce inheritance tax on homes worth £1 million. How many people do they think will benefit form that? How many of those people are already Tory voters (and probably members)? You really have to wonder what planet some of these people are living on.

Meanwhile, the Tories have announced their latest bright idea. They want to reduce inheritance tax on homes worth £1 million. How many people do they think will benefit form that? How many of those people are already Tory voters (and probably members)? You really have to wonder what planet some of these people are living on.

Just an extra thought. Let's say somebody dies and leaves a large empty home. At the moment, their beneficiaries might try to sell the property for, say £900K. If a property worth up to £1 million is exempt from inheritance tax, they will put it on the market for £1 million and hope to get somewhere near that. So, we have yet another policy which will increase property prices.

 

These blithering idiots don't seem to understand that property prices are already too high. They are throwing increasing amounts of money at keeping them artificially high. That means that future governments will be reluctant to reverse these barmy policies. After all, no party wants to be accused of implementing measures which will lead to a fall in property prices.

And any economy based around property bubbles is heading for disaster - oh we've seen that already from the previous governments of the world haven't we?! Fact.

Help to Buy, Help to Buy ISAs, Funding for Lending..

 

Anything but actually addressing the actual issue. Conservatives. Building a shittier, debt-driven economy that may implode at any moment.

That's what they want tho, a Victorian style society in 2015 where everyone gets into debt because they believe buying a house is the thing to do which will lead to more individuality and less solidarity.

Yes, and you can even leave your £1 million 1 bed flat in Kingston-upon-Thames to your children (that you haven't even paid half the mortgage off yet at 0.00005% interest rate) TAX FREE. Rejoice! Rejoice!

Meanwhile, the Tories have announced their latest bright idea. They want to reduce inheritance tax on homes worth £1 million. How many people do they think will benefit form that? How many of those people are already Tory voters (and probably members)? You really have to wonder what planet some of these people are living on.

Well actually, I'd imagine quite a lot of people own homes worth between £325,000 and £1m, and not necessarily just Tory voters.

Well actually, I'd imagine quite a lot of people own homes worth between £325,000 and £1m, and not necessarily just Tory voters.

It will still benefit relatively few people. Even those whose estates will be affected can only die once. However, the tabloids make it sound like a massive giveaway that will make us all rich. Of course, as ever, there is no mention of where the money is coming from. No doubt they will use the same line as they have used for their extra £8 billion for the NHS - "Trust us". I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw Eric Pickles. Using one finger.

I would presume a lot of people are related to a large proportion of the 64% of people who own their homes (I'm guessing, with house prices as they are, that ~80+% of those are worth over £325k). Let's not pretend this won't affect a lot of people.

 

The criticism of where the money's coming from is totally right, but given the ideological side to this I can't see them not bringing this in if they can help it.

Suedehead is right, not that many people own homes worth over 325K... and those that do tend to be concentrated in the areas already dominated by the Tories anyway.

 

About 8% or so of people in this country have to pay Inheritance Tax so the scope for affecting the population as a whole is automatically rather limited and will only benefit those that are already wealthy.

Suedehead is right, not that many people own homes worth over 325K... and those that do tend to be concentrated in the areas already dominated by the Tories anyway.

 

About 8% or so of people in this country have to pay Inheritance Tax so the scope for affecting the population as a whole is automatically rather limited and will only benefit those that are already wealthy.

8% is based on people dying as we speak. Given the house price spike is a relatively recent phenomenon, we'd probably see a lot more being affected by it in about 20-30 years time - and I'd say there are probably a *lot* of people part way through a mortgage on homes over 325k, or who see themselves at some point getting one.

 

I don't think this policy will have as much of an effect as the first time it was announced in 2007, but it's not by any means an irrelevant one!

8% is indeed based upon current volumes... but we're talking about a current election, not one in 30 years time. When you keep in mind most couples actually only pay on estates above £650,000 and the average house price is a comparatively low £180,000 (according to land registry data), this policy is only going to benefit the people who are already comparatively rich and it will yet again be funded by cuts elsewhere that are need by the poorer elements of society. I don't think it's irrelevant, I think it's disgraceful.

 

 

8% is indeed based upon current volumes... but we're talking about a current election, not one in 30 years time.

When it comes to inheritance tax policy, most people do tend to bear in mind that they'll be dying in the future!

 

When you keep in mind most couples actually only pay on estates above £650,000 and the average house price is a comparatively low £180,000 (according to land registry data), this policy is only going to benefit the people who are already comparatively rich and it will yet again be funded by cuts elsewhere that are need by the poorer elements of society. I don't think it's irrelevant, I think it's disgraceful.

That as it is, it's still the kind of thing that changes minds.

What minds is it going to change? The Tories already have wholesale command over the whole of the wealthiest 20% or so, except for the diehard Guardianish lefties who don't mind paying higher taxes anyway.

When it comes to inheritance tax policy, most people do tend to bear in mind that they'll be dying in the future!

Yes... and the policies and threshold levels change over time to reflect that to keep it at a level where it affects a similar proportion of the population at any given time - the £325,000 is at that level to reflect the wealth of people who are actually likely to be passing away now, not the wealth of those who will die in the future! It's an absolute con to suggest that this policy is to safeguard anything for the future as that would happen naturally over time with incremental rises to reflect the wealth of that generation, the reality of implementing any such policy now is that it's to protect the richer people in societies homes at this point in time.

What minds is it going to change? The Tories already have wholesale command over the whole of the wealthiest 20% or so, except for the diehard Guardianish lefties who don't mind paying higher taxes anyway.

It will change the minds of the comparatively stupid voters who believe what they read in the Daily Mail and who actually believe that a policy change now is intended for them in 40-50 years time when they MAY own a house that is worth more. You would be amazed how many people worry about these things when in reality they will never have to pay anything at all.

Edited April 12, 201510 yr by dandystar

Suedehead is right, not that many people own homes worth over 325K... and those that do tend to be concentrated in the areas already dominated by the Tories anyway.

 

About 8% or so of people in this country have to pay Inheritance Tax so the scope for affecting the population as a whole is automatically rather limited and will only benefit those that are already wealthy.

 

 

Anyone who pays large amounts of inheritance tax is a fool imo. It's a very unfair tax. My cousin's died, leaving over 1.3 million with house and savings and my daughter 's one of 5 beneficiaries as a second cousin. He's bypassed his first cousins! :angry: According to the letter she's received, with preliminary estate estimates, over 426k will go in inheritance tax and he paid 300k when he inherited from his mother! It's ridiculous that all this money goes to the Treasury. :rolleyes: People should do what the wife's rich employers are doing gradually and put most money and property in their offspring's names before they die!!

Edited April 12, 201510 yr by Common Sense