Talking Points: Inheritance tax and #BringBackOurDaughters
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#BRINGBACKOURDAUGHTERS
17 days ago, more than 200 girls were kidnapped from their dormitories in Chibok, Nigeria by Islamic jihadists Boko Haram, and are yet to be saved. Just imagine the reaction if this had happened at a public school in the UK, said Janice Turner in the Times, instead of Africa. 'Where then is the live-blogging, the CNN crews, the flower-laying coverage and hourly updates? Is empathy finite?' The paper continues its coverage today (£)
'The question of the president’s political will and his disturbing indifference is another matter. Protests, led by wives and mothers, backed by social media (using the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurDaughters), are spreading across the country. Not all the oil wealth in the world can ultimately save President Jonathan from the wrath of parents whose daughters have been stolen and enslaved.'
LABOUR: THE UKIP OF THE LEFT?
So Ed Miliband has thrown himself wholeheartedly behind David Lammy’s proposal for rent controls. Fraser Nelson, in the Telegraph, thinks the idea is quite bonkers, but its real significance is in how Miliband wants to be perceived.
‘The Labour leader no longer seems concerned about policies actually working. He wants ones that will portray him as an avenger, out to slay the capitalist dragon. And his party will fight the next election as a Leftist populist party’
CUT THE TAX
Wealthy parents – watch your backs. Cameron has announced plans to raise the inheritance tax threshold to £1million. But even this isn’t going far enough, according to Polly Toynbee in the Gurdian. She thinks it should be scrapped all together.
‘The principle should be that all income, earned and unearned, from capital gain or sweat of brow, is taxed the same, whatever its source. Working hard for your money should no longer be taxed the hardest.'
KEVIN SPACEY UPDATE
The first official trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has been released early – hurrah! - and features Francis Underwood himself. Watch it here
IT'S A TWIN THING
Some heart-warming news with which to start the Bank Holiday weekend: 78 year-old twin sisters Elizabeth Hamel and Ann Hunt have been reunited for the first time since they were babies. Their first words to each other after decades apart were “How lovely!” We quite agree.
@LucyH_J
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