The politicians who won't help elderly siblings

The politicians who won't help elderly siblings

Last week Frank Field MP tried to amend the finance bill to allow relatives who had been living together for 10 years or more to benefit from the same inheritance tax exemptions as married couples and civil partners. It would have cost the Treasury little in revenue, but could have made the world of difference to elderly siblings who share a home.

This was originally proposed when the legislation for civil partnerships was going through Parliament, but sadly didn't make it into law. This time there was not even a vote on the proposal, as the Conservative party apparently made it clear they would not support it. Why not? The Tories think it is 'fairer' to concentrate on hiking the IHT threshold to £1m, benefiting those who have money and huge assets. So while they sympathise with elderly siblings whose only valuable asset might be the home they live in, they are not prepared to vote in favour of helping them right now. That says all you need to know about the new caring, sharing Conservative party.

The government is also sympathetic, according to Kitty Ussher, economic secretary to the Treasury, who said of Field's amendment: 'There is something special about marriage that makes it necessary for a nil band rate to apply. While we have sympathy and compassion for elderly people who have been living together for the vast majority of their lives, we feel that in view of the value of the estates concerned, government intervention is not required.'

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government's attitude to families is confused: it wants us to form close families, producing children who contribute to society. Yet when siblings contribute by looking after each other in their old age, saving the state the cost of long-term care, it is not willing to return the favour by cutting the surviving sibling a little slack over if, or when, the tax is paid.

As Susannah Hickling points out here, IHT rules are also unfair to the children of unmarried parents. Is this government so old-fashioned that it is prepared to penalise children for being illegitimate?

Many Observer readers believe IHT is a good thing, arguing that children should not benefit from wealth they have done nothing to accumulate. But even IHT supporters must see that this regime is iniquitous.

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