Iain Dale: Bad Maths and Forgetfulness or a Fibber?

Iain Dale is still saying that Inheritance Tax affects 37% of houses, which I do believe is a Scottish Widows figure which is only slightly less hooky than an Accountancy Age guesstimate of number of Non Doms lifted from something glib, imprecise and inaccurate in a sunday newspaper.

"Affects 37% of houses"? What a pile of tosh Iain. Absolute steaming doo doos. Really! How can you still be repeating this discredited propaganda?

Next you'll be telling us that doing away with IHT would solve the first time buyer squeeze as gentlefolk inherit from their mum and dad and can buy a home when they're 50, 60 or 70. In fact my Gran's 102 next birthday and my dad (75) still wouldn't have had his stash.

Anyway THAT brilliant thought and marvellous mathematics, along with the idea that Maggie wasn't expecting to serve a full term when she was last elected as PM, came from Ms Caroline Spelman MP on QT.

37% of houses? I repeat: Tosh! It's not even 6% of houses in any snapshot of what's going on.

In fact 6% of estates that are not only WORTH either £300,000 plus or £600,000 plus in the case of a well-tax-planned couple but ACTUALLY OWN THAT EQUITY.

This becomes a very tiny number and proportion of all houses when one considers the number of houses vs the whole housinh stock willed each year.

There are all sorts of not even particularly clever ways of avoiding IHT, helping poor impoverished might be first time buyers rellies, and generally amassing an unconscionable fortune on the backs of the real workers.

Please Tories DO THE MATHS. Then get Memory Dave to commit the answers to the party's collective memory and NEVER EVER EVER REPEAT the untruths. Making mistakes is one thing. And acknowledgement or even an apology might suffice, if they ever came.

Knowingly repeating untruths Mr Iain Dale is ... SIMPLY LYING.