Charitable Assessments

Downing Street has re-announced its listen-and-ignore exercise (or "full consultation" in Modern English) over the caps on tax relief for charitable donations. Lady Warsi said she hoped it would strike a balance, presumably between something or other and something or other else; the specifics of the matter were discreetly passed over thanks to the general respect accorded Lady Warsi's capacity for having more than half a concept in her head at any one time. An Osborne flunkey with the encouragingly Dickensian name of Gauke said that the Treasury accepted there would be an impact on charities, but that the Government would consider how to ensure that the charities did not suffer too much. Doubtless, as with the public sector, widespread and enthusiastic culling is the favoured option. The Treasury has also published figures showing the extent of tax avoidance by Britain's millionaires and multi-millionaires, the intended moral apparently being that any self-respecting charity should prefer going under to accepting funds from such tainted hands.