A tax on your dead

Exciting political heavy-weight George Osborne has announced that a Tory government would consider the abolition of inheritance tax. You know that a party is really scraping the barrel when it's having to go for demographics whose main concern is death. Politically this is a terrible idea, since the dead, by and large, have tended to be rather less active in the polling stations than the living. (Except in Florida of course, where I understand that the electoral register includes a significant number of the departed). Economically it transfers the tax burden onto active, hard-working wage earners away from those who, by a freak accident of nature, happen to be born to affluent parents.

Actually, the notion that it's politically a bad idea is slightly flawed, since it assumes a well-informed and intelligent electorate, rather than the greedy, stupid malignant electorate of modern Britain. 'Middle England', which largely comprises Daily Mail-reading arrivistes living in pebble-dashed houses in the Home Counties, will probably think that they're getting an enormous windfall and will vote for the conservatives in their droves. I doubt very much that they realise that inheritance tax doesn't kick in for the first GBP250,000, which given a good downturn in the property market will be far above their meager assets on death. The people who will really benefit are those rather more significant estates (i.e. Tory party members).

Ah, fuck it, what do I care about the British people? They're far too stupid to warrant my concern. Personally I have no successors anyway (at least none that I'll admit to). I intend to spend every last penny on a debauched dotage in Nevada, now that the Mustang Ranch has reopened.