Tag Archives: stuart bonar

Opinion: Time to give inheritance tax the chop

By Former Organiser | Tue 23rd August 2011 - 1:53 pm

Whilst on my weekly perusal of Lib Dem Voice I spotted an interesting article by my lovely colleague Stuart Bonar. He was discussing inheritance tax; an issue that I hope will not affect me for a while, but nonetheless, an important one to many of us. I was initially inclined to agree with Stuart’s view that individuals should be taxed on these ‘wind-falls’ but then I got thinking…

Inheritance tax used to be a tax on the rich, something not relevant to most of us. But it’s now a tax paid by many, as house and asset prices have risen to extraordinary levels; many being valued at over £325 000, which is the threshold for this tax. However, I do wonder whether many of the rich, the original subjects of this tax, pay it, as they can afford expensive and skilled accountants or leave the country to escape this payment, something that I and many others cannot do.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 105 Comments
Stephen Tall

“Delivering this is going to be very difficult” – Tory peer Strathclyde’s verdict on Lords reform

By Stephen Tall | Sat 18th June 2011 - 6:10 pm

Let’s start with the good news — Lord Strathclyde, the Tory leader in the Lords is a self-styled “long-term supporter” of reform of the Upper House. Now for the bad news — he’s pessimistic that the Coalition will actualy deliver elected senators by 2015, the deadline set by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

Here’s what m’Lord Strathclyde (who inherited a seat from his grandfather at the age of 25) has to say in an interview in today’s Financial Times:

“To me the dream scenario would be . . . getting in place by the end of the next session and then going forward

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , , , , and | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

Conference: the full-time score

By Mark Pack | Sun 26th September 2010 - 9:20 am

Having blogged ten questions for Liberal Democrat conference, along with a conference half-time update, how do things look now the dust has settled from Liverpool for those ten points?

Party strategy

Love your coalition partner all the time in public: that was the clear line taken by Nick Clegg, reinforced by other senior party figures and not challenged directly in any high profile way during conference (save for one question during the Nick Clegg Q&A). And yet… whether or not the party should let its strong debates with the Conservatives within the coalition show a little more in public was …

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 9 Comments
Stephen Tall

“The voting system is broken, back the Alternative”: ads to help win May’s voting referendum

By Stephen Tall | Sun 22nd August 2010 - 4:35 pm

Last month, The Voice asked the question, Can you design a poster to win the AV “Yes” campaign?, highlighting TakeBackParliament.com‘s competition to crowd-source the design talent of bloggers who support abolishing first-past-the-vote and replacing it with the Alternative Vote in readiness for next May’s referendum.

The winner has now been announced (and sorry, guys, but it doesn’t do it for me). Runner-up was Lib Dem blogger Stuart Bonar, who produced an excellent series of designs.

Here’s an example from one batch:

And an even more inspired …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 27 Comments
Sara Bedford

Daily View 2×2: 2 February 2010

By Sara Bedford | Tue 2nd February 2010 - 9:38 am

Today is Groundhog Day, but I’ve resisted the temptation to simply give you yesterday’s Daily View again. It’s also the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc, which symbolises the turning point of winter towards spring.

Twenty years ago today President FW de Klerk began to dismantle apartheid in South Africa, announcing that he had lifted the 30-year ban on the African National Congress, the Pan African Congress and the South African Communist Party. De Klerk also committed to release jailed ANC leader Nelson Mandela, who was freed nine days later. Commenting on the news, Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: “He has taken …

Continue reading »
Posted in Daily View | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Cowley Street shuts Plymouth Lib Dem branch

By The Voice | Fri 22nd January 2010 - 7:10 pm

ThisIsPlymouth.co.uk has the story:

THE Liberal Democrats have suspended their Plymouth branch after an extraordinary spell of in-fighting among members. After losing two chairmen in five months, the party’s London headquarters stepped in yesterday and shut down the branch.

The first sign of turmoil in the local party came last summer when chairman Steve Barton resigned after a dispute with Dr Judy Evans, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Sutton and Devonport.

In a heated exchange of emails Mr Barton accused Dr Evans of making “negative and destructive comments” and of misusing electoral data software, the Election Agents Record System (EARS). He

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 5 Comments
Advert



Recent Comments

  • David Allen
    Farmers do hard and vital work, and get hit by many difficulties and uncertainties. So should we: (1). Create good support systems for farming incomes whic...
  • Ahmad
    What comes next is HTS will raise conflicts with Israel as planed by both, so Israel can expand into Damascus to be like Ghazah and the US will handle north Syr...
  • Matthew Radmore
    Roland 10th Dec '24 - 3:46pm Unfortunately, it does seem Israel is taking advantage of the situation… with it taking “temporary control” of demilitarized...
  • Matthew Radmore
    Thank you for this important and shocking read. The whole civilised world, if their is anything civilised left should, only support Syrians at their request ...
  • tom arms
    @John McHugo. Yes, and I am one of those whose Christian beliefs have shaped his liberal values. But I also am a staunch believer in the separation of church an...