Monday, August 21, 2006

Inheritance tax - give the kids less

To me, arguments about taxation always boil down to morals, rather than economics.

Take the ongoing rumblings surrounding inheritance tax. The loudest voices in the anti-IHT lobby come from what might be identified as the upper middle class. These are the people whose children have benefited from their parents' income and who are likely to inherit not just assets, but the lasting legacy of private education, music/sports classes, holidays abroad and whatever other privileges they might have enjoyed.

Why then is it such an outrage that what they are allowed to pass on to their children should be limited?

The answer is simple: people are naturally, and understandably, averse to giving away what they believe to be theirs.

But those who see IHT as a 'stealth tax', or a means of taking a second bite of the income cherry, miss the fundamental point of this tax. It is the most effective, and fairest, means of distributing wealth.

Before IHT, we had in this country a landed gentry, self-sufficient, largely idle but hugely influential. They were able to pass on money and lands to their profligate offspring, who spent it mainly on vice. As you would.

But inheritance tax throws a spanner in the works of those who would be happy to live off the gains of their predecessors. It encourages young people to make their own way in life, to rely on their resourcefulness rather than their parent's resources.

Most importantly it directs surplus funds back into the economy to be spent on infrastructure and social welfare (one hopes). It is intrinsically bound up with the principle of social reciprocity.

This principle is apparently alien to those who would abolish it. No doubt they would much rather see wealth accumulate in the same regions and families it always used to than see funds go back into the coffers of a Government that they instinctively mistrust. Dislike of the Government is a handy smokescreen for those who would gladly cling on to every penny they can keep but selfishness is the true motivation.

Whether you support the Labour government or not, inheritance tax is born out of an instinctive belief that those who have ought to help provide for those who do not.

This is a belief on which successful societies have flourished since the dawn of time.

If you wish to argue against the wisdom of that feeling, please leave a comment below.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Passenger profiling - us and them

The delay of a Manchester-bound flight due to passengers' alarm at two 'suspicious' Muslim men demonstrates that even if politicians are wary of passenger profiling, the general public is not.

It is likely that the British public, notorious for distrusting those who govern and police their society, will be responsible for many more false alarms in the coming months. And it is a racing certainty that the majority of these cases will be the result of passengers spooked by a shifty look, a raised voice in Arabic, or a long beard.

But the likelihood of any of these incidents resulting in the prevention of a terrorist act is very small indeed. The chief outcome will be to drive a wedge of distrust between Muslims and non-Muslims, each distrusting and fearful of the other.

Passenger profiling, whether it be by civilians or the security services, is bound to fuel the us-and-them mentality which is gradually tightening its grip on British society.

The common-sense brigade, as represented by our friends at, among others, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, is incensed that anyone could find the idea of passenger profiling unpleasant. Their argument is simple: There have been no whites, Christians, Jews, Martians, or Rotary Club members involved in suicide bombings.

This is true. But the surefire way to change that fact is to introduce passenger profiling.

Is it inconceivable that the people who organise and sponsor terrorism will modify their tactics to counter ours? They have already proven themselves adept at recruiting young, middle-class British-born Muslims to their cause.

Why not Bosnians, Phillipinos, or even white British converts?

This is an eventuality which the right-wing press appears reluctant to consider, abhorrent as it will be to those who choose to believe that we are being attacked by a tangible and definitely 'other' entity.

This is not the case. We are being attacked by those who feel themselves to be defending their fellow Muslims, and who are exploited by puppeteers who revel in affluence and high-level security.

The only way to combat this sad conveyor belt of brainwashing is to remove the climate which sends moderates into the hands of extremists.

Passenger profiling will never achieve this. Doing away with the pre-emptive, aggressive, tubthumping foreign policy of the past 5 years just might.