"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me."

Well said, Pammie1.

Stopping children from inheriting even £1m is not the same as preventing someone from accumulating millions/billions that will never ever be used. What is the point in hoarding it. If someone is amassing a fortune by employing people then the employees should be paid more.

I can’t see any party wanting to govern publishing a manifesto which included an intention to, if you like, ‘ban inheritance’. But I remember John McDonnell speaking in a very similar vein about inheritance and it was pretty obvious where we would ultimately be heading if he and Corbyn were in power. And I’m mindful that he hasn’t gone away. Talk of preventing people from amassing vast fortunes isn’t dissimilar. Do we really want to see people who pay a lot of tax here, and are responsible for the creation of a great many jobs, relocate to another country which doesn’t punish them for having money?

MaizieD

^I'd hope that a 43 grand a year education would equip me to aspire to that kind of position in life, yes.^

That £43k a year education absolutely teaches you that you are to rule, not aspiration, expectation.

Voters love being ruled by the elite. Look how they despise politicians with common accents and a tendency to use fruity language. Look how they're defending the wasting of money by the super rich because.. because.. well, I'm not altogether sure because of what.. But don't anyone dare try to take 76% of global wealth away from 10% of the global population... It's politics of envy and communism... The common people love their narratives of working all hours for peanuts and any crumbs that the super rich might like to throw them...

I find this all really depressing...

I agree with a lot of this. Most of the global wealth is in the hands of the few and divide between the very richest and the very poorest widens every day. The solution is problematic for the ordinary people at the bottom of the pile because we’re largely the ones with a conscience, we see the inequity all around us and want to do something about it. But the perception is that to change the system and redistribute that wealth means that our own modest possessions will be treated in the same way. And that’s actually been suggested upthread. Once you start talking about taking away people’s hard earned property when they die and banning inheritance, the connection with communism is made, people take fright and the status quo is preserved. Win win for the rich. It’s called divide and rule and you only have to look back at this thread to realise how well it works.

We can’t legislate for luck and opportunity and instead of admitting that, we look to level the playing field by levelling down instead of up by taking away from those who have a little instead of giving to those who don’t. What we should be doing is finding a way to make it impossible for anyone to amass vast fortunes and stash them away where they’re of no use to anyone. For this to happen, the change has to come from the top down, not the bottom up.

Agree Varian There is a feeling of powerlessness.

Because of our FPTP voting system we are ruled by an elective dictatorship on the basis of a minority vote. This is the exact opposite of true democracy.

In theory Parliament is supreme, but in practice a party with a huge majority of MPs can do whatever it likes, no matter how much the voters or opposition MPs object.

In the present parliament it would take at least 40 Tory MP's to rebel against the government to stop even the most appalling legislation being passed. How likely is that?

We are no longer a democracy - bordering on a dictatorship.

My mother always used to say money goes to the rich.

GrannyGravy13

Mr. Sunak has not cut Universal Credit the £20 uplift was given over the various lockdowns of the last two years. It was said at the time that this was temporary.

I am sure that there is a scheme whereby a non-working wife/husband can transfer some of their tax allowance to the other.

It is not the super rich that are at fault it is the system, which successive Governments have not amended, that’s all Governments, Conservative, Conservative/Lib Dem coalition and Labour.

As long as the so called super rich are not doing anything illegal they remain untouchable…

Yes the £20 might have been a temporary uplift but there is loads of families some of whom are actually working who was struggling before the uplift.
Many charities, Trussell trust, c.a.b are two that come to mind, begged the government to not take the uplift away

I used to volunteer at a very high end art gallery, which was also a high end educational charity. It was not unusual to have the following conversation...
* Hi, Can you help, you've appeared on my credit card statement. Can you tell me what for?
* Of course, what date was it? Lovely, and the amount?
* Oh, not a lot last Saturday £4750...

Sorry but spending that amount and forgetting it, and calling it small?! Another customer called to buy a very expensive (to me) painting £8500. I pointed out she had bought and paid for it at the Open Night, the previous Friday...Oh, well, are any others available? I told her what was still listed and she chose the most expensive - as nothing under £5000 was worth buying. A totally different world.

weeducky yes, some very well-heeled politicians who are so wealthy that they don't need to work, may very well go into politics to help the people of this country; however, I do think some are not so altruistic and want to be a politician solely for the kudos, fame and power.

I'd hope that a 43 grand a year education would equip me to aspire to that kind of position in life, yes.

That £43k a year education absolutely teaches you that you are to rule, not aspiration, expectation.

Voters love being ruled by the elite. Look how they despise politicians with common accents and a tendency to use fruity language. Look how they're defending the wasting of money by the super rich because.. because.. well, I'm not altogether sure because of what.. But don't anyone dare try to take 76% of global wealth away from 10% of the global population... It's politics of envy and communism... The common people love their narratives of working all hours for peanuts and any crumbs that the super rich might like to throw them...

I find this all really depressing...

weeducky

I keep asking myself " why would anyone choose to got into politics?" All they get is criticism, scorn, flak, verbal abuse, disapproval, fault finding, etc ad nauseam. None of them, by whatever colour they fly, do it for the money, which is so dismal, so why do it especially if you are so wealthy you REALLY do not need to work at anything. I personally think it is , with maybe the very odd exception, because they want to help the people of this country in whatever way they can . So I put a question to all 'Gransnetters' and hope you give it some deep thought, "Would you like to take over running the country?" I know I would definitely NOT

I'd hope that a 43 grand a year education would equip me to aspire to that kind of position in life, yes.
I do recognise that it may lead to some other rather obvious failings in other areas, though.

It's a shame there are things that can't be taught, however much you pay.

Dinahmo

Pammie1

Millbrook

Wow. Some keen Tories on this thread. Presumably all well/comfortably off and absolutely certain that it is all down to their ‘hard work and sacrifice’......

There are also some smug participants who seem to think that asset stripping the dead is the answer to giving us all the same start in life. It’s not levelling up, it’s levelling down. Why is it that ensuring equality never involves giving, it always takes away, in the name of creating opportunity and equality. That, right there, is your Tory thinking.

In some ways you are right but (and a big but) the Tories take away. You only have to look at the cuts in education and the NHS to see that.

There's nothing wrong with giving every child a good start in life and many of them are not getting that at the moment.

But you don’t have to take away the ability of hard working people with modest income and property to leave an inheritance, to do it.

nadateturbe

“While those who have the least are fighting among themselves, they’re leaving those who have the most alone.”

I've thought this for years.

It’s called divide and rule and the Tories have always been masterful at it. This thread is an absolutely perfect example of it. We start offwith a topic discussing the super rich and end up bitching about who has slightly more than someone else and advocate asset stripping as soon as you pop your clogs because somehow it’s wrong to pass on the things you’ve worked for throughout your life to your loved ones.

So agree with you Daisy.

their there

So I put a question to all 'Gransnetters' and hope you give it some deep thought, "Would you like to take over running the country?" I know I would definitely NOT
Sometimes I think I would. I couldn't make a worse job of it than the current shambles.

pen50: there are still some philanthropists around. Up here in Scotland we have Sir Tom Hunter who, when advised to move to Monaco, said he wanted to bring his family up in Scotland. He set up The Hunter Foundation and is well known for his support to needy organisations. He also donates regularly to small local causes when he sees they need funds to survive.

I'm surprised that people with non-dom and/or green card status are allowed to become M.P.s, let alone cabinet ministers! Surely there should be some sort of screening to ensure that candidates put the interests of the UK and its inhabitants first? While the super-rich have so much political influence, what hope is their for the rest of us?

I keep asking myself " why would anyone choose to got into politics?" All they get is criticism, scorn, flak, verbal abuse, disapproval, fault finding, etc ad nauseam. None of them, by whatever colour they fly, do it for the money, which is so dismal, so why do it especially if you are so wealthy you REALLY do not need to work at anything. I personally think it is , with maybe the very odd exception, because they want to help the people of this country in whatever way they can . So I put a question to all 'Gransnetters' and hope you give it some deep thought, "Would you like to take over running the country?" I know I would definitely NOT

Dinahmo

Remember the song from Cabaret? "Money Makes the World Go Round". That is true but only when it's spent. Sitting in offshore bank accounts it's doing nothing.

I'm glad a few other people are 'getting' this, Dinahmo

Remember the song from Cabaret? "Money Makes the World Go Round". That is true but only when it's spent. Sitting in offshore bank accounts it's doing nothing.

The only way to stop this is a flat rate but I should not think this will happen anytime soon especially as the super rich have so much influence with governments!

So we need to look at voting for parties that don't favour the super rich.

And we need to stop believing this nonsense about taxation funding spending, that state spending comes before taxation, and look at parties which plan to spend the nation's money on services and projects which benefit far more of the citizens of our country. And keep the economy moving.

Maybe we also ought to decide that poverty is not a situation that anyone, whatever their perceived contribution to society, should be in.

And that slogging your guts out at two or three very poorly paid jobs to keep you and your family fed, warm and housed is not a situation that people should be in.

The lumping together of household income hit my OH very hard. We live together as individuals sharing costs. When he was made redndant he was automatically put on Pension Credit. When I received my occupational pension all but £2-3 per week of his pension credit was was taken away and I was expected to support him as if we were a married couple. Obviously I stepped up, but he was so completely humiliated at one point he thought of moving out - but where does a single man go?. I hate to think what would happen to couples if one party was not willing to support the other.
I’d love to make the people who decide ’what the law says you need to live on’ live on those amounts for three years without any additional income