Cameron's Christmas message

Can you tell me where I have ever said it's just the Tories?
Same old niggle.
Please read what I say carefully and not just according to your prejudices.

Tony Benn may have been well off and had a privileged upbringing, but he devoted his life to helping those less fortunate than himself.I can't bear hearing anyone knock the most decent man I've ever met .

I don't agree with the view that being rich is necessarily something to hold against someone. I know nobody has said that but I think it is often implied in the general negativity about capitalism.

In the Victorian era it was rich people who were the philanthropists: they had the resources and the will to try and change things for the better for people less fortunate than themselves. I reckon Tony Benn was made of the same stuff.

What wealth of Harriet Harman? Daughter of a doctor and a solicitor , she was a barrister and then an MP, where is all this wealth nigglenellie?

Tony Benn was the son of an MP and a theologian , vast inherited wealth?

His father was elevated to the lords and then was given a title,Benn fought a legal battle not to inherit it. A man of principle .

Lord Longfords niece, the Pakenham family St Paul's school for girls, I think you'll find they're quite posh!!
I haven't knocked Tony Benn at all, just expressed genuine surprise at him protecting his family from inheritance tax. Good for him, how sensible! but I would have thought against every principle he stood for, hence the surprise!

Didn't Benn marry inherited wealth?

Sorry nigglenellie but posh is a silky word. Will you tell about the vast wealth, sending a child to a private day school is posh?

If what he did was legal then it probably didn't go against his principles. The two things of wanting to reform bad tax laws and making the most of bad tax laws while they exist are not incompatible.

Besides, if his family's wealth came from his wife's side, perhaps he felt it would be unfair of him to cause them to lose out because of inheritance tax, and left it to his wife.

All speculation. Just blethering.

Caroline Benn was the daughter of an American lawyer

ab, eh? Don't understand your post.

Silky as used is slang/jargon meaning....??

And your second sentence doesn't make sense to me.

Who left what to his wife?

All that has been said is that wealthy people, however they come by their wealth, should pay their taxes properly in the country where their wealth is earned so we can have a properly funded and properly resourced NHS.
Doesn't seem much to ask for, does it?
However, we do need a properly funded tax system to see this happens.

One of the letters to Tony Benn's grandchildren was about old people retaining their idealism despite the experiences they have had, and finding that their experiences justify their idealism, and encourage dreams for a better more equal society.

I much prefer Tony Benn's thoughts than the alternative.

I updated the iPad and the keyboard is horrid. Meant SILLY. How does a professional couple sending their child to a private day school make the family posh or of great wealth?

In that case, dj, and whoever brought up the subject of inheritance tax, I'm sure Tony Benn always paid all the tax he was legally required to pay.

Thanks, ab.

Not just any old private school ab. St Paul's is a girl's public school of some renown. The sister school to St Paul's public school for boys where the chancellor whom you so despise and has certainly been referred to as posh, was educated. The Packenham family are definitely posh!!

I have not referred to Osbourne as posh, I despise his politics, his treatment of the vulnerable .

I didn't say that you had referred to him as posh. I said, at the risk of repeating myself, that he had certainly been referred to as posh, I didn't say by whom. I did say that you despised him, which I believe you have made clear.

Ill treatment in homes for the elderly is on the increase, fault of the Tory government?

OMG! Are they personally going into old peoples' homes and bashing up the elderly, putting them on the Liverpool Uncaring Pathway, pulling their chairs from under them as they go to sit down for dinner? Who is that - Cameron himself, Osborne or the 'evil' Letwin?
Any photos, any evidence?

Who left what to his wife? Benn?
Left Caroline to spend the money, or dodge the tax with legal tax avoidance schemes perhaps? Is that what was meant?
Perhaps he didn't like spending her money.
Men can be a bit strange like that.

Why would he leave his money to his wife who died fourteen years before him?

How does a professional couple sending their child to a private day school make the family posh or of great wealth?
beyond most of us, even professionals, especially after paying tax.
If you had two or three children the costs would be enormous; it is not just the fees alone which average around £15,000 pa.

Surely private education, whatever the cost, should be completely out of the equation anyway, for a true Socialist?

Caroline Benn died before Tony. Isn't it strange that the way some posters justify the disgraceful behaviour of right wing conservatives is by raising points about other people. Could it be that they actually realise the behaviour is indefensible but just can't bear to say so????