Blairs saved £312k in stamp duty deal.

Jane71

*I'm not sure what you're trying to say here Jane71. It's certainly a classic example of Thatcher's ideology. Are you approving of it?*

Not at all MaizieD. Thatcher believed in a small state, and leaving things to the market to resolve. I believe in a larger state, as the market obviously fails in so many respects. Local authorities should have more capacity to build housing: I don't think the houing crisis can be resolved otherwise.

I absolutely agree with you

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here Jane71. It's certainly a classic example of Thatcher's ideology. Are you approving of it?

Not at all MaizieD. Thatcher believed in a small state, and leaving things to the market to resolve. I believe in a larger state, as the market obviously fails in so many respects. Local authorities should have more capacity to build housing: I don't think the houing crisis can be resolved otherwise.

Germanshepherdsmum

This isn’t as unusual as you might think with valuable London properties, many of which are owned by companies. If a property is already owned by a company you can just buy the company and stamp duty is paid only on the transfer of shares in the company, a much smaller sum than stamp duty on the value of the property. It isn’t something the buyers (in this case the Blairs) arrange. There is no tax avoidance or evasion. No wrongdoing on the part of buyer or seller. No blame attached to either party.

Oh, some people find blame for everything bar the weather,
It can’t be good for their BP.

It was, and still is, a classic example of what should be the size and roll of the state.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here Jane71. It's certainly a classic example of Thatcher's ideology. Are you approving of it?

I accosted our local Tory candidate in 1979 and asked why the Local Councils were to be prevented from reinvesting the proceeds of council house sales in new council houses. He had no answer. ,There never was an answer

I thought the reason was political, in that Thatcher didn't believe that local authorities should be involved in providing housing. She wanted housing associations to provide that function.
It was, and still is, a classic example of what should be the size and roll of the state.

The huge gulf between renters and house buyers is at the centre of British politics.

Thatcher bought Tory votes with her "right to buy" policy but I believe that something like a quarter of ex-council houses are now private rentals.

I accosted our local Tory candidate in 1979 and asked why the Local Councils were to be prevented from reinvesting the proceeds of council house sales in new council houses. He had no answer. ,There never was an answer.

I too would love to buy a house, I would be free from Council
Care & Repair .

I know, JJ! Imagine saving £312k on a single transaction - it's mind-boggling, really.

No I mean as a renter I would like the 312k they saved so I could buy a house. It would make my life easier. Could they gift it to me?

Germanshepherdsmum

Do any of us give the tax man more than we are legally obliged to? Would any of us refuse a legitimate way to save tax on the basis that they had quite enough money already?
I notice no-one answered my question upthread as to whether they would refuse to buy a house they liked if they found it was owed by a company and they could save stamp duty …

I doubt that most of us do much more than wince when we see the 'offtakes' section of our PAYE payslips, really.

I have never had the opportunity to refuse a way to save tax - it has always been taken at source, as it is for most people.

The fact that these 'legitimate' savings are only open to those with other sources of income should be a red flag to those who make the tax rules. I'm sure that if they realised the unfairness of a system that only gives tax breaks to the rich, they would do something about it.

Oh.

Good on you Annie!

I would Germanshepardsnum

Children, charities for instance Luckygirl. Surely everyone would like to amass what they could for their children and grandchildren, and charities would cease to exist without donors.

Well if you were a QC like Cherie you would Jane. Not sticking up for her, can’t stand her, but I believe she didn’t come from a very privileged background - father Tony Booth the actor who married’Elsie Tanner’.

Can anyone tell me why people actually want all this money? What would you do with it?

Once you have a home and enough to live a comfortable life, then what do you do with all the rest?

I wish I had the 312k they saved to buy a house tbh

Do any of us give the tax man more than we are legally obliged to? Would any of us refuse a legitimate way to save tax on the basis that they had quite enough money already?
I notice no-one answered my question upthread as to whether they would refuse to buy a house they liked if they found it was owed by a company and they could save stamp duty …

It never ceases to amaze me the extent to which rich people go to save money: haven't they got enough?

Anniebach

Is it immoral for a Labour supporter to own a holiday home or
pay for private health care , to own two cars ?

No more than it is for a Tory voter to do so. Why would it be?

Personally, I think that all of those things are morally dubious, but I see no conflict between a Labour supporter wanting a fairer and more equitable society and simultaneously having a decent standard of living.

To suggest otherwise is rather facile, really. What are they supposed to do? Donate their salary to some vague fund that redistributes wealth? With no system behind it to ensure fairness, and no democratic decisions on how it show be spent?

Individuals can't really make a difference outside of charitable work (for those with the luxury of spare time) - it is voting for a government who will bring about difference that will make a difference.

The unions ? They would sell their souls

Opinion
Pandora papers
Access to the Tory party is being bought by a new class of tycoon funders
Peter Oborne

In light of revelations in the Pandora papers, we need to be asking what are they getting in return?

Boris Johnson appointed Ben Elliot as Tory co-chair. This appointment changed the structure of the British Tory party.’

Tony Blair (little surprise to see his appearance in Pandora) helped create this model during his famous period in opposition before 1997. Eager to sideline the unions, the ambitious young Labour leader and his aide Jonathan Powell encouraged fundraising from wealthy donors.

The Tories followed suit. They may have felt they had little choice. Money was hard to come by and the membership was dying. Suddenly party donors became important figures, men and women of note.

But it is Johnson who has been the most shameless by far about this arrangement. On becoming Tory leader he appointed Ben Elliot, whose former business clients include Mohamed Amersi, who looms large in the Pandora papers) as Tory co-chair. This appointment changed the structure of the British Tory party. And it is no surprise to learn, courtesy of the Pandora papers, that Elliot jointly owned a secret offshore film financing business.

At first sight Eton-educated Elliot looks like a copper-bottomed establishment Conservative. A nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles’s wife, he’s the son of Simon Elliot, a Dorset landowner.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/05/access-tory-party-tycoon-funders-pandora-papers?fbclid=IwAR3_ANGJ0UBiN409itRqPUTIv10r4UXU2G74gT1WMjZLT2K2IJvVHhRIMQg

The Blair’s are the tip of what iceberg?

The Blair's are the tip of the iceberg and what they did was not illegal. I would imagine that there's a lot of people having sleepless nights over Pandora. However maybe not. Maybe they are betting that people just don't care enough to bother? The Tories have accepted millions from people without looking into the details too much. Can't see much of an uproar.

Is it immoral for a Labour supporter to own a holiday home or
pay for private health care , to own two cars ?

Does that preclude him from legally buying property?

No more than it precludes someone from being a Tory donor!