Envy not fairness

The new LibDem policy of adding 0.5% annual tax to the people who have houses in excess of £1M is daft but based on the old politics of envy and not fairness.

Vince Cable cited mansions owned by Roman Abramovich as an example, but what about the old dear living in a house in an affluent part of country. She bought it with her husband in the 60s when they were both working, now he's dead and she has retired. The house price shot up and it's now worth over a million.

As well as paying a huge amount of council tax to clear up the one bin bag she throws out once every two weeks, she now has to pay an additional tax out of her dwindling savings and then the inheritors will have inheritance tax to pay when she pops her clogs. Is that all fair? No, just envy based on property.

I expected this sort of clumsy thinking of union leaders and left wing thinkers on in the Labour party, not of St. Vince Cable.

It doesn't take into account regional house prices, which if nothing else, the hated council tax does.

The LibDem conference seems to be a mess. Clumsy thinking and conflicting messages. Yesterday Nick Clegg said that Middle Income Child Benefit should be looked at, this morning Steve Webb said he'd looked at it in the last 24 hours and stated it will stay the same. That's quite a slap for a leader from the underling.

What a mess.

Squiffy.