Tories unveil inheritance tax pledge

The Conservatives have promised to end inheritance tax on family homes worth up to £1m if they win the election.

David Cameron said: “We will take the family home out of inheritance tax. That home that you have worked and saved for belongs to you and your family.

“You should be able to pass it on to your children. And with the Conservatives, the taxman will not get his hands on it.”

The Tories also promised to end inheritance tax in 2010, but the move was blocked by the Lib Dems while in coalition.

Labour called it a “panic move” and the Lib Dems said the policy smacked of “desperation”.

The details

The scheme would come into effect from April 2017 under a Conservative government.

Parents will see their existing £325,000 allowance increased to £500,000, transferable on the death of one spouse. So a property worth £1m could be passed on to children tax-free.

The Tories say 22,000 families will be affected by 2020.

The scheme is estimated to cost £1bn and will be paid for by a raid on pension tax reliefs for people earning over £150,000.

The allowance would taper away to nothing for people with homes worth more than £2.35m.

Labour say people who own £2m homes would get a tax cut of £140,000.

The party’s Treasury spokesman Chris Leslie said: “This is just the latest panicky promise from the Tories, but we’ve heard it all before. The Tories made a promise on inheritance tax before the last election and they broke it.

“At a time when our NHS is in crisis and most working people are paying more under the Tories, it cannot be a priority to spend £1bn on a policy which the Treasury says would not apply to 90 per cent of estates.”

The Chancellor, George Osborne, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “Conservatives support the basic human instinct to provide for your children. We believe that your home which you have worked for and you have saved for should belong to you and your family, not the taxman.”

Polls latest – Labour clinging to narrow lead

Labour are slightly ahead in the polls but we are still heading for a hung parliament, according to the Press Association’s poll of polls.

One poll by Opinium puts the Tories two points ahead of Labour, but other recent surveys show Labour in the lead by one to six points.

After factoring in every national poll from the last seven days, the Press Association puts Labour on 34.3 per cent, 1.5 points ahead of the Tories on 32.8 per cent.

Ukip are in third place on 14.1 per cent, the Lib Dems are fouth with 8.4 per cent and the Greens have 4.8 per cent.

The numbers suggest another hung parliament, with no party likely to get the 326 seats needed to form a majority government.

Former defence secretary Liam Fox voiced concern following a clutch of polls in which Labour appeared to be opening up a lead of as many as six points.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, former Tory defence secretary Liam Fox said the Conservatives should have a 10-point lead at this stage, saying: “The questions many Conservatives are asking are: what is going on and what are we going to do about it?”

Peter Kellner, president of YouGov, said in a Times article that there was “a lot of churn” in the polls, with about 9 per cent of voters switching parties since the New Year.

Cameron: the taxman will not get his hands on your family home

Greens would put top tax rate up to 60p

The Green Party say they would put up the top rate of tax from 45p to 60p in the pound.

The hike would bring in an extra £2bn a year for public services while discouraging companies from paying “excessively high” salaries, said party leader Natalie Bennett.

She said: “For too long now the economy in this country has worked for those at the top, while failing everyone else.

“The 60p tax will raise money to fund crucial public services, contributing towards the reversal of the failed policy of austerity that is making the poor, the disadvantaged and the young pay for the greed and fraud of the bankers.

“Only the Green Party are proposing radical changes which will redistribute wealth within our economy and encourage companies to reduce the gap between their highest- and lowest-earners.”

Breaking: Cameron ‘snubs Joey Essex’

David Cameron will not be taking part in a documentary on the election with reality TV star Joey Essex.

Essex said he had found out today that the prime minister had declined to appear on the programme.

The Only Way is Essex star told BBC Radio 5: “It’s a shame really – I don’t know if anyone knows but I’m not meeting David Cameron. I’ve met everyone else out of the MPs. I’ve only just found out today.

“I really did want to meet him but it’s not happening. I’m a bit gutted but he’s a busy man, just like every other MP. It would have been just nice because I’ve met everyone else.”

Essex has spoken to Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage for the ITV programme, due to be screened in the run-up to polling day on May 7.

Ukip eye wild card seats in the north

Ukip could take seats from Labour in the north of England, deputy leader Paul Nuttall has said.

Mr Nuttall denied the party was running out of steam in the run-up to the election, saying: “If I was offered that we would be polling 15 per cent 25 days before the general election the day after the European elections last year, I would have bitten your hand off.

“But equally, this is a first-past-the-post election. What really matters here is how we’re polling in our targets, not generally across the country.”

Read more: FactCheck – can Ukip win anywhere now?

He added: “The Conservatives from what I’ve found are pretty much dead from Birmingham.

“There’s only one challenger here, and look, we’ve been growing up here in the north of England for a number of years now.”

He said he believed Ukip “may take a couple of seats” in the north, adding “there may indeed be a couple of wild cards”.

“Equally, what we are trying to do is we are trying to ensure that we finish second place in around 100 seats here in the north of England and then go on and do well in next year’s local election and build towards 2020, because we believe if we get second places, if we make ourselves the opposition here, it puts us in the money seat for the next General Election.”

Mr Nuttall said he was “thoroughly confident” that Ukip leader Nigel Farage would win in South Thanet.

Jowell: Miliband is “a very sensitive, tender human being”

Labour veteran Dame Tessa Jowell has told Channel 4 News Ed Miliband is “sensitive” and “tender” but also capable of being “prime ministerial”.

Dame Tessa, who backed David Miliband to become Labour leader but served as a shadow minister under his brother, is stepping down after the election but intends to stand as Labour’s candidate for Mayor of London.

Asked how Mr Miliband was coping with increasingly personal attacks from political opponents and the press, she told Channel 4 News.

“Most of the time, through a combination of not reading it, hoping that people are not going to tell you, believing in what you stand for and believing in what you do, you get through it.

“He’s a human being – he’s a very sensitive, tender human being.”

Asked if Mr Miliband was prime ministerial enough, she said: “I think he is. Look how he performed in the debates.

“He was prime ministerial in the debates. That was the Ed Miliband who I hope will become the prime minister of this country.”

Dame Tessa also said she respected SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, saying: “She’s a woman of great passion. She believes passionately about Scottish independence.

“I don’t agree with her but I respect her right to express her views and with the passion that she does.

“What was great about the leaders’ debate was that we had three women leaders there with the men.”