Tax Avoiders (19/03/15)

I watched some of George Osborne's pre-election budget speech which the chancellor delivered yesterday in the House of Commons and he's come a long way since the 'omnishambles' budget of a few years back.

In fact, George even managed a few good jokes at Ed Miliband's expense including one that had a serious edge as he announced an inquiry into organised tax avoidance through the use of Deeds of Variation.

Now these are perfectly legal devices which change a person's will after their death, but the name of the game to lower and minimise the potential tax liabilities arising from a deceased person's estate.

And that's exactly what the Miliband family decided to do a number of years ago, much to the Labour leader's obvious embarrassment on the opposition benches of the Westminster Parliament.

So if George Osborne loses the Westminster general election, I suspect he has a real future in stand-up comedy because his routine has a real a cutting edge.

Because he managed to get under Ed Miliband's skin big time and there's more to come when his inquiry reports later this year - unless Ed wins the election and cancels the whole thing, of course..