7th July 2005: Remembering the Fallen.

Ten years ago today 52 innocent civilians were killed by enemies of this country. Individuals who made a declaration of war upon us all.
Following this words of sympathy and condemnation have been rightly and properly offered.
There is a saying: Words are Cheap.
There is another saying: Actions speak louder than words.
We know that George Osborne is going to put forward a Budget proposal to the House to Commons tomorrow.
It contains additional relief for IHT for those with homes up to £1 million.
There has been a long established exemption (ever since Death Duties were introduced in 1894 by Lord Rosebury) that the estate of someone who dies on active service in the service of the Crown is exempted. The British Gazette suggests that this exemption should be extended to all those persons who are unlawfully killed. It further suggests that any IHT lost by this should be reclaimed by the Crown from the parties responsible for the killing and also those parties who are demonstrated to support them – for they share a “common purpose.”
Of course the British Gazette can point out a problem with this: such measures [reclaiming IHT from the murderers and their supporters] will probably be regarded as breaching their human rights!