BUCHAN HITS OUT AT CARPET BAGGERS

Dear Dame,

I notice you have not asked Felicity Buchan any questions on issues relevant to Kensington constituents so I sent her questions I would like answered. 


I suppose you are being your usual partisan self.

I notice Miss Khan(now sent off to work in the Lords) and Miss Horlick have answered none of your questions so you should be praising Buchan for answering the questions I set her.

Through no fault of my own, my humble flat is worth £2.2 million. 
Labour supported by the Liberal Democrats will hound me out of my home of many years as my fixed income will not cover the additional tax. 
The idea it can be rolled up and paid on my death is just another confiscatory tax.

If you are like me you would be mad to vote for a party that aims to destroy your way of life.

Angrily yours, dearest Dame,

Name and address withheld

"It is wrong this reader describing the Dame as partisan."

The Dame

BUSINESS RATES

I would like to see Business Rates reformed and it is something I am very focussed on.  Too much of the burden of business rates is falling on High Street Retail.  We need streets like High Street Kensington and Notting Hill Gate to be revitalised and if elected I will work with freeholders, businesses, Local and Central Government to achieve this.  

I agree with the Treasury Committee’s conclusions that we need reform of Business Rates.

LAND TAX ON MY HOME

The Labour Party is advocating an annual Land Tax akin to a Wealth Tax on Property.  

This is not just on properties of over £2mm.  

We estimate for the average property in Kensington this will mean an additional bill of a whopping £6771 per year. (That is based on an annual 0.7pc Land Tax based on the average property price in Kensington minus the average current Kensington Council tax bill).  

The LibDems have also supported such a Land Tax and were the first to introduce the concept of a Mansion Tax on properties over £2m which Jo Swinson has personally supported.  

As you rightly point out, this is a huge and unexpected bill for those who may have low and moderate incomes including the elderly.  People should not be forced out of their family home by a tax which has nothing to do with their ability to pay it.

INHERITANCE TAX

The Lib Dems have also advocated massively increasing Inheritance Tax by introducing a lifetime gift transfer tax taxed at income tax levels with threshold of only £250,000.

THE EU

 I have always campaigned for a negotiated Brexit deal and a deal which protects the rights of European citizens living in the UK.  We have an agreed Brexit deal with the EU - which passed Parliament at its first reading.   I think it’s important that we get this agreed deal through Parliament and we provide certainty for business and individuals.  We cannot have years more of uncertainty and paralysis.  We need to move on to focus on the important domestic agenda - police, schools, NHS.

The Liberal Democrats say they will revoke Article 50 but they will never be able to get enough MPs to form a Government, so they will get into bed with Corbyn and the SNP -which causes more uncertainty.

The Brexit Party will not be able to win in Kensington (if they take 500-1000 votes off the Conservatives then all they do is increase the likelihood of a Labour victory in Kensington).

The Lib Dems are being very opportunistic about this seat and not thinking about what’s in Kensington voters’ interests.

NO CARPETBAGGER!

I’m local - I’ve lived in K&C for 25 years and I live and breathe the issues here.  

I’m intimately involved in the community here.

The Lib Dems can’t win in Kensington.   

In the last election in 2017, the Labour and Conservative Parties were both on 42pc with the Lib Dems a whopping 30 percentage points behind.  In the 2018 Local Elections, the difference between the Conservatives and the LibDems was even greater.  The LibDems will point you to the Euro elections but we all know turnout there was very low and the Euros are notorious for protest votes.  The Conservatives did not even campaign in the Euro Elections in Kensington.

I believe that Kensington needs a hardworking local MP and not someone who jumps party and constituency.

         

Thank you, Mrs xxxxxx for these interesting questions.

Felicity