A tax targeted only on the rich? My aging parents are anything but rich, living in a small bungalow in a normal town in Yorkshire. But their thrift has placed them into the inheritance tax net. They can't give away much money because their money is in their bungalow. They're trapped, and they feel sad that their hard work through many years will burden their children with a tax that's not their fault.

Short of announcing they'll ban all speed cameras, getting rid of inheritance tax would be just about the most popular step they could take. Why are they dithering?!

Peter, Warwickshire, Warks

The problem with the UK is that if you slashed corporation and other business taxes to the bone it still wouldn't lead to a US style enterprise economy because instead of investing more in start-ups the financial services people would stick it all in their pockets or invest it overseas somewhere.

Dick, Aberdeenshire,

John Redwood's comparison [with regard to taxation] with Ireland is a flawed argument.

Ireland is actively seeking industrial investment as it diversifies from an agricultural to a high value-added economy (eg pharmaceuticals, computers and software) as such, it is offering incentives for start-up entrepreneurs and certain multinationals that fit its requirements.

Britain, by comparison, has a well established manufacturing base (albeit declining), many start-ups (with a high failure rate) and nearly 60m people (compared to about 5m in Ireland).

The Irish model is not all sweetness and light. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer (makers of Viagra) has recently considerably downsized its operation in Cork.
Little surprise, then, that George Osbourne treats this report with kid gloves - it does seem to be a rehash of the old Thatcherite arguments (but one would expect that from John Redwood).

£$4bn is a big tax deficit which has to be filled from elsewhere.

Steve Upstone, Aylesbury, UK

In no way can these proposals be described as a lurch to the right. For me it is a test of the true Conservative credentials of the Opposition. Embrace the report and its proposals or lose the support of me and, I believe, a large and growing mass of would-be supporters.

If Cameron and his front bench team intend to merely put forward a 'not-quite-Labour' bunch of policies then Britain may as well stick with Brown and the devil it knows already.

I was appalled to hear the Chancellor-to-be traduce the view that tax cuts stimulate enterprise and thus the economy. This should be a core belief of any Conservative. People should not be forced to wonder whether a Conservative government will follow this agenda; it should be pocketed so that arguments can then be moved on to highlight the chaotic constitutional crisis that Labour has induced with ill-thought out decade of change for change’s sake in the guise of ‘modernisation’.

This is another Grammar School test for the Tories.

Edwin Thornber, Bucharest,

I've never understood the problem with inheritance tax. It's not a tax on hard work and thrift because the person who did the thrifty hard work generally dosent have to pay it (being dead). If a party or government really wants to encourage hard work and thrift I think a better idea would be to raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax. This would encourage more people at the lower end of the income spectrum to work as they could keep what they earn. Its very disheartening when struggling to pay the rent on less than fifteen grand to see such a big chunk of it siphoned off.

RC, Leeds, Yorkshire

inheritances are received by those who haven't worked for the money but were born into a wealthy family. Inheritance tax should mean lower taxes on earned income. Inheriitance tax should be raised to encourage harder work so people get what they have worked for and not what someone else has worked for.

PC, London, UK

With the recent stories about private equity finding massive loopholes to reduce their taxes significantly, the rise of the 100,000 per week footballer and the non resident for tax billionaire, the abolition of this tax is absolutely fair.

To tax an inheritance after having seen ones parents pay taxes all their life is morally very dubious. It is without doubt the biggest disincentive for wealth creation every created and can easily be offset with increases in other places. I doubt whether it should be offset anyway.

One can argue about the amount of households caught up in this tax, but without doubt one will see singificant increases in the numbers of housholds paying this tax in the next few years.

Bob Smith , London,

Why do labour always say 'It is a decisive shift to the right in their approach' whenever a new policy is mentioned by the tories ? I am getting so bored of their responses...

Stephen, london,

Never ever trust Tory spin!

TOM ARCHER, dagenham, essex

Just goes to show - tories will try anything to grab back power.....so who's gonna pay for all the tax cuts?

j healion, edinburgh,

The centre ground has hardly solved anything in the last 12 years. Abolition of iht is good. It is an envy tax and discourages the creation of wealth for all.
It is NOT a crime to be right wing. Why should people who work hard have to pay through the nose for the people who don't.
Quixotic idea, which is expensive and as The UK has shown does not work.

KS, Toronto,

No surprise there then. Real conservative ideas on tax, (no doubt popular amongst traditional Tory support and ex-Tory abstaining voters) are not endorsed by the blue labour leadership. I think Cameron & Osborne are on the wrong side of the house. Or is it that there is no 'right' side to the house anymore? It' s high time Redwood stopped trying to influence this shower of power seeking Etonians from within, and joined/started a party that reflected his own opinions, and those of a significant percentage of the populace, currently unrepresented.

Jon Burgess, Douglas, Isle of Man