FoI disclosure proves Brown held IHT discussions prior to Conservatives announcement

FoI disclosure proves Brown held IHT discussions prior to Conservatives announcement

The row about inheritance tax continues after the Treasury revealed that it was asked to produce final proposals in early September, three weeks before the Conservatives announced plans to raise the tax threshold to £1 million .

Downing Street insisted that the information proved that Labour was already planning the announcement, but the Conservatives said the records showed that Alistair Darling took an interest only after strong hints in August that they were about to prepare proposals.

The limited disclosure of details under the Freedom of Information Act proved that Gordon Brown considered, but rejected at the last minute, plans to change inheritance tax. The information from the Treasury invalidates the suggestion that the plan announced by Mr Darling in the Pre-Budget Report was quickly put together after the announcement by George Osborne at the Tory conference.

Labour: here is proof that we thought of tax cut first (The Times, 9 November 2007)