So, who votes for a government that improves the lives of Bankers, and ensures the excessive profits of energy companies, but needs all the "levelling up" money to pay for the holes in Brexit?

Well, one of those philanthropic men, in the mid 80s, funded the building of the new maternity hospital where my son was born - in memory of his mother who died in childbirth. Another, James Dyson, has funded some major projects recently. And that’s just two plucked out of the air.

The Victorian philanthropists were also sending boys up their chimneys to sweep them and employing servants such as my great grandmother to get up before dawn to light their fires.

The Victorian philanthropists were also sending boys up their chimneys to sweep them and employing servants such as my great grandmother to get up before dawn to light their fires.

So, does that make the behaviour of those chasing riches today, who deliberately govern in a way to keep poor people poor, okay, GSM?

Do you believe all people are equal or do you actually believe some have more intrinsic worth?

I commented that there are philanthropists today and that the much-lauded Victorian philanthropists had their hypocritical side. There was no need for you to follow that up with a goady question, which I won’t dignify with a reply.

The Victorian philanthropists were of course as much (or even more) concerned about their life after death as any philanthropic enterprise. They were told "It was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter heaven" so they had to do something.
And of course the poor were divided into the deserving and undeserving, which meant it was OK if some people starved, they were obviously being punished for misdeeds.

The first sentence is a bit sweeping Glorianny. With wealth comes time and the ability to learn, think and talk to other thinkers. Some may have had a better motive, and some would not be quite that sort of Christian.

Having said that, some of the thinking you described has carried on into our future. That should, in my opinion, concern us. If people believe it is reasonable to be increasingly rich while others become increasingly poor and don't see the line between those two, I do wonder about the coming years.

The latest campaign by the Tory supporting Telegraph is to abolish inheritance tax.

It's not just about the rich getting richer but the children of the rich never having to pay even a nominal tax, for the good fortune, and it might be a vast fortune, they inherit through no effort on their own part.

You don’t have to be rich to leave an estate which attracts IHT.

I would like to see the IT threshold raised to £750,00 - £1,000,000. Many houses in the South East and other areas are at least this.

It’s high time it was raised.

Apparently having an estate of more than £325,000 doesn't mean you are rich.

?

volver

Apparently having an estate of more than £325,000 doesn't mean you are rich.

?

You would be lucky to get a flat for that amount round here, so no £325,000 does not make you rich.

volver

Apparently having an estate of more than £325,000 doesn't mean you are rich.

?

Correct in 2022.

tbf volver 2 up 2 downs are more than that where I live

Germanshepherdsmum

It’s high time it was raised.

When was the last revision?

Mind you, all the starter homes and flats here are rented out, so it's making someone rich

JaneJudge

Mind you, all the starter homes and flats here are rented out, so it's making someone rich

I feel it is false to say rentals make people rich.

The owner has costs: mortgage, expenses, maintenance, fees.

And may want a decent return on investment.

I would have to look that up Norah, but quite some time ago and it certainly hasn’t kept pace with house price inflation. Homes account for the major part of most people’s ‘wealth’. People in areas where house prices are low think the threshold is perfectly adequate but in other areas owning even the most modest flat would take you over the threshold. A case for levelling down perhaps. Of course those whose assets are below the threshold will always accuse those with more of being rich. I have a sense of deja vu.

You would be lucky to get a flat for that amount round here, so no £325,000 does not make you rich.

I'd love to hear you explain that to Jack Monroe.

Wealth in itself is not the problem. It’s the ever widening gap between the richest and poorest in society in the most developed countries, which causes the problem. Arguments about what is rich these days is a side issue.

There is plenty of empirical research to show that a higher inequality score affects the country’s economic growth overall with multiple negative effects on health, mental and physical, education, and well-being of the population.

This doesn’t come about by accident, but by deliberate policies of governments to protect the status quo.
How can this be defended?

JaneJudge

Mind you, all the starter homes and flats here are rented out, so it's making someone rich

If people didn’t buy these properties and make them available for rent, where would the tenants live? If they could afford to buy, they would. As Norah says, landlords have costs; mortgages, payment of service charges, payment of managing agents’ fees for a start, not to mention the cost of the gas etc safety certificates. Fewer costs are now allowed against income tax, and when the flat is sold capital gains tax is payable. Having a flat to rent out does not make anyone rich.

Germanshepherdsmum

JaneJudge

Mind you, all the starter homes and flats here are rented out, so it's making someone rich

If people didn’t buy these properties and make them available for rent, where would the tenants live? If they could afford to buy, they would. As Norah says, landlords have costs; mortgages, payment of service charges, payment of managing agents’ fees for a start, not to mention the cost of the gas etc safety certificates. Fewer costs are now allowed against income tax, and when the flat is sold capital gains tax is payable. Having a flat to rent out does not make anyone rich.

That is a poor argument. If houses at the lower end of the market were unsold rather than being purchased by would be landlords, the price of property would reduce, making housing more affordable. If we didn’t have a Tory Government there would be more social housing available for those who could not afford to purchase. Having a flat to rent out makes the landlord a lot richer than the person who is forced to spend money they would have used to purchase a home to rent one instead.

Those properties would simply cease to be built Casdon. Developers only build flats and houses for which there is a demand. A tenant’s ability to purchase is wholly dependent on saving a deposit and falling within mortgage lenders’ acceptability criteria. Developers are already required to provide a large percentage of affordable housing (for sale or rent) on private developments. Occasionally the local authority will accept a cash payment in lieu to enable them to provide the housing.

volver

^You would be lucky to get a flat for that amount round here, so no £325,000 does not make you rich.^

I'd love to hear you explain that to Jack Monroe.

Really funny, Jack lives near one of our AC a true Essex Person and a brilliant campaigner.

The reason she is downsizing her rented home is because she donates all her earnings to worthwhile local charities.

Not sure what you're suggesting GG13

Germanshepherdsmum

Those properties would simply cease to be built Casdon. Developers only build flats and houses for which there is a demand. A tenant’s ability to purchase is wholly dependent on saving a deposit and falling within mortgage lenders’ acceptability criteria. Developers are already required to provide a large percentage of affordable housing (for sale or rent) on private developments. Occasionally the local authority will accept a cash payment in lieu to enable them to provide the housing.

And most of the time, this does not happen. Near us there is so many new Estates coming up faster than mushrooms- and 'affordable housing' is nowhere to be seen! Neithe is the necessary infrasructure- schools, Drs surgery, PO, Public transport, etc.