Sick of hysterical, fearful, puffed-up, posturing politicians bribing other people with your money? Remember...

I was particularly reminded of these words when the BBC's Chief Spinmeister for the Labour Party, Robert Peston (unconvincingly masquerading as the corporation's Economics Editor) described Tory plans to increase the amount of money people can pass on untaxed after their death as a "give-away". A give-awhat? Hell's bells! Promising to steal a little less money from corpses represents a give-way? Gee, thanks! 

Inheritance tax (the name has changed many times since it was introduced as estate duty back in 1796, but the principle of picking dead people's pockets remains the same) has always struck me as rather disgusting. What - we have to pay to die? How very dare the state interfere with our right to pass on what little we've managed to accrue in its entirety to whoever we wish to bequeath it to. We've already paid tax on what we're leaving (in the case of property, we paid the mortage out of taxed money, and we paid stamp duty - another disgraceful example of unjustified larceny by the state - when we bought the place). So, remind me - why do the people or organisations to whom we've chosen to bequeath our property have to pay tax on it all over again? So it can be sent overseas as foreign aid? Or spent on vanity projects like HR2? Or pissed away by smug, self-regarding, morally superior left-wing quangocrats on their various pet victim groups?

I inherited very little. I certainly won't be passing on a fortune - but whatever I do pass on, I (we) worked for it, and I (we) paid all the requisite tax on it. I just don't see why any part of what we own should ever be taxed again - I don't understand what right the state has to pick our pockets twice over. (Make that three times. Until inflation dropped to zero last month, those of us foolish enough to have savings had seen their value in real terms fall for six years in a row, thanks to interest rates being kept artificially low - it's just another form of taxation.)

If I had the power to pass two laws, the first would require that every time a politician appears on TV, there would be a requirement for the words "Remember - this is your money they're talking about!" to flash on the screen throughout - and the second would be to require Robert Peston to pay regular visits to a common-or-garden High Street barber to get his stupid fucking hair cut. At his own expense. He looks like a complete arse.