Quote Originally Posted by Idaho View Post
I find the reasons for your voting intention profoundly depressing.
I thought you might.

I am responsible for a lot of people's livelihoods, many of whom have worked all their lives for my family. When my father died, the death duties were substantial and it has only been through tough decisions (and the staff's extraordinary dedication) that I did not have to lay off any of the long standing workers. (The irony is, because of inheritance tax, it's not even practicable to set aside savings for the evil day to protect their future, because that's just more tax to the Inland Revenue). If I can reduce that burden for my successor, I believe that I have that duty.

My obligation to my hard-working staff on both sides of the Celtic Sea, in two seriously crocked countries, means that the more of my money made unavailable to the ravenous taxman, the more I can keep them and their families safe. I don't have the luxury of moving to a nice tax haven somewhere warm. Whilst I recognise the injustice of the rich benefitting from a tax concession, I would also note that the Tories are going to keep the 50% rate on my income. My choice is to do what is possible to protect people I know from the storm to come (including myself, naturally) rather than "donate" even more cash to the waste-bucket of welfare that supports people for whom I don't have any responsibility.