It was New Labour’s seminal moment: the so called ‘Prawn-Cocktail Offensive’ when the shining lights of the party wooed corporate Britain over a series of business breakfasts. Now Alistair Darling, the listening Chancellor, has reaffirmed New Labour’s credentials as the party of business by heeding the concerns of the City about his taxation plans for nom-doms. To see a flexible and pragmatic politician such as Alistair is most refreshing. Here’s a sonnet about the great man:
The Tories at their conference weren’t relaxing
(How Gordon’s massive polling lead did rile!)
Osborne pledged to cut IHT by taxing
Those whose tax status was ‘non-domicile’.
But Alistair, the Chancellor just anointed,
Proposed an IHT plan of his own.
At Osborne Gordon laughed and jeered and pointed.
To pieces thus the Tory fox was blown.
But Darling changed these plans when he reflected
Foreign investors might find them unfair.
(But not, as Guido claimed, cos they affected
Rich donors who might take their cash elsewhere.)
Meanwhile the hapless Osborne had to live
With his plan, which was much more punative.
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