Proposals for a levy, thought to be £20,000, would be deducted from the estates of older people when they die
By Patrick Wintour and Randeep Ramesh
guardian.co.uk,
8 February 2010
Radical proposals for a £20,000 compulsory inheritance levy to help pay for Gordon Brown's social care plans may be endorsed by the government before the general election.
The health secretary, Andy Burnham, believes he may get the backing for a compulsory plan from Downing Street, but influential cabinet members are still agonising over whether to be explicit about it on the eve of the poll. They fear the proposal may prove to be too bold to sell to the electorate in the heated weeks before an election.
Some cabinet members close to Brown back the proposals, but believe the government may have cold feet, deferring a decision until after the election in the same way that politically difficult decisions on the future funding of higher education have been delayed until a post-election review.
One cabinet member accepted the decision that had to be made on social care was probably the most difficult the government had to make ahead of the election, including the budget.
The inheritance levy, thought to be £20,000, would be deducted from the estates of older people when they die, replacing a system that forces many pensioners to sell their family homes to fund nursing home bills. Burnham believes the lesson of Barack Obama's failure to win wider support for his healthcare reforms is that he tinkered around the edges, rather than being bold.
Abridged
SOURCE: The Guardian, UK
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