How is Mitt Romney linked to the charity tax debacle? I thought I’d pass on to CoffeeHousers an explanation which passed on to me about the origins of this latest mess.
It dates back to the point in the Budget negotiations where Nick Clegg had finally persuaded Osborne to introduce a Mansion Tax. A major coup for his party — but Cameron vetoed, thinking it’d hurt Boris in London. Clegg is annoyed, tells Osborne he can’t have his 40p tax, but he still has a problem. A Lib Dem spring conference is coming up — so what will he announce? He hunts for a new idea. The Thursday before the Lib Dem conference, he’s having a late-night brainstorming session in the Cabinet Office with his aides — fuelled by a drop of whisky. Mitt Romney’s tax is in the news: he used various vehicles to cut his liability to less than 15 per cent.
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