A new Conservative party poster appeared to be backfiring last night as media commentators attacked the ad and a new spoof site was set up to parody the campaign
A new Conservative party poster appeared to be backfiring last night with a range of media commentators attacking the ad and a new spoof site set up to parody the campaign.
Trailed on Conservative Home yesterday, a new posted outlining that, “Now Gordon wants £20,000 when you die” will appear at 18 sites nationwide. But writing on the Spectator’s Coffee House blog, Peter Hoskin describes the poster as “disingenuous”:
Andy Burnham this morning denied the death tax claim with the words, “The Guardian story suggests a £20,000 flat levy. I’m not currently considering that as a lead option for reform.” Sure, the Health Secretary has left himself some wiggle room – he could still introduce the levy. But the fact remains that the death tax isn’t current Labour policy. It may never be. And it’s disingenuous to suggest otherwise.
On politics.co.uk, Alex Stevenson writes that Andrew Lansley’s decision to push the death tax line even after Burnham’s statement was “only a flimsy covering over the scare tactics so keenly seized on by the opposition.” On Sky’s Boulton & Co. Miranda Richardson says, “It seems a somewhat wishy-washy basis on which to campaign.”
Clifford Singer, the man behind the viral MyDavidCameron spoof poster site, quickly launched a MyToryTombstone site. An online generator will be in place soon but in the meantime, the graphically skilled can email their posters to dc@mydavidcameron.com.
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37 Responses to “New Tory ad backfires”
Roger
So what about the Tory policy that wants us to somehow find £8,000 when we are 65 or face the very real probability of having your house and possessions sold off to pay for your long-term care.
Given that most of us find it quite impossible to visualise our deaths death duties are hardly going to be a big vote-swinger – but having to find a large wodge of cash at retirement is another matter altogether.
willie Sullivan
RT @wdjstraw: The Nasty Party is Back http://bit.ly/auEaM4 RT @Kevin_Maguire: Broon to Cam: "They are the same old Tories." Used that a few times myself!
Anon E Mouse
Roger – As I understand it that £7000 is an insurance for retirement – most people will have that available from their pension.
Regarding Brown stealing £20,000 when people are dead is it just me that finds that obscene?
Taxed your whole life on everything to provide duck houses and moats and porno movies for MP’s and then they tax you when you’re dead. Great.
Why do the left still feel the urge to “Squeeze the rich until the pips squeak”?
Why do you want to give more of your money to these morons in power, Labour or Tory?
Roger
Are you covering the Tory fake student story http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/10/cameron-student-crowd-doubts ?
I’ve recently had to attend multiple Tory policy speeches and observed a number of their young campaign workers in action – and if as looks probable they have taken to strategically seating them behind Cameron for photos these ones had to make major efforts to scruff themselves up – upper middle class Tory Boys and Girls could hardly look that bad without making a special trip to Oxfam.
Roger
Anon – actually check the figures on pensions you’ll find a lot fewer will have £8,000 in spare cash at retirement than you imagine.
And there is no £20,000 death levy proposal – the govt have denied it and in any case that option is something which is functionally the same as the Tory £8,000 levy that you mis-characterise as ‘insurance’ (you can in fact buy real lump-sum insurance for these purposes and the premiums being actually set according to sound insurance principles it will cost you much, much more than £8,000).
There is actually a real problem here – the average 65-year old will cost somebody on average £30,000 in residential, nursing and home care costs before they die, paying it themselves beggars many families, real insurance is too costly and if the state has to pay it will cost vast amounts as baby boomers like myself hit retirement and start exerting our infinite sense of entitlement rather than admitting what selfish shits we’ve been all our lives and heading quietly for the suicide booths.
Like the Republicans in the US the Tories are so obsessed with winning power and cutting taxes for the rich that they are systematically denying the real long-term problems of dealing with a rapidly ageing society in favour of lies and half-lies about tax and deficits.