Wednesday 30 May 2012

Sound the retreat!


Good news reaches me of the change of heart on the " pasty tax". Of course the papers have great fun on this. It's a shame these things are presented as U- turns. There is honour in reviewing what you do when you see the weight of evidence presented.

So clearly it is now time to scrap the proposals on the charity tax. Great to see various Tory MPs calling for this. Well done Ruffley et all. I see no reason at all to have a consultation on this. That was always a Treasury wheeze to try and bury opposition. And far better politically to sort this now.

So I was at the beautiful ruins of the White Church at Brade, deep in the Irish countryside; come to see the grave of my great grandmother who is buried in the Chancel along with her eldest son, my great Uncle William. The phone goes disturbing the rest of the dead; its World at One wanting me to do an interview for the News. Difficult from a graveyard I explained. Fortunately we had sorted our media acevo response and the admirable Dr Kyle was ready to spring into action to defend the sector. A firm line from ACEVO; we want the cap removed. No amount of meddling or fiddling will solve the problem. And the recent NPC research shows the problem this has caused. So let's avoid any siren calls from others in the sector for compromises. It's scrap, not meddle we want.

But back to Great Grandmother! I discover the East window of the Church has collapsed over her grave! But its a very picturesque Gothic ruin, and short of rebuilding the Church not much I can to for GG. But it's a rather lovely spot in any case.

And today, before heading for the Castle I have to tidy up the Limrick vault at Union Hall. Somehow looking after the dead can be less complicated than sorting the problems of the living. So George, do what you know is right. And do it now.




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