Gordon's legacy of fine words

Guess who wrote this: 'If society is to have inheritance tax, it must be operated fairly. Yet at present, while the very wealthy avoid the tax, many others are being drawn into it.'

The author was Gordon Brown, then shadow Chancellor. In the same document, he criticises the Tory government of the time (1994) for putting up the starting rate of IHT to 40 per cent from 30 per cent, and points out that they had not indexed the starting point for payment of tax for the last two years.

Can this be the same Gordon Brown who has been Chancellor for eight years, yet has done nothing to iron out the inheritance-tax anomalies we have highlighted over the past few weeks; who has failed to raise the IHT threshold in line with property price increases; who is demanding payment of IHT before estate assets are released; and who - as highlighted this week - is discriminating against heterosexual cohabitees?

For starters, we urge Mr Brown to take note of the Early Day Motion to be tabled by Labour MP Harry Barnes tomorrow and amend the Finance Bill to ensure heterosexual cohabitees get the same exemptions as married and gay couples.

Good news for those of you who have bought insurance policies to cover the cost of repairing or replacing service water pipes in your garden. Following our revelation last week that water companies will in many cases carry out such repairs for free, Homeserve, the insurer that provides these policies, has decided to make policyholders an offer they can't refuse. If you feel you have bought a policy you don't need, it will refund your money plus an extra £10 in compensation.

Alternatively, if you keep your policy, the insurer is improving cover to include all the service pipes in your house, up to and including the stop-cock. It will also replace rather than repair up to 20m of pipe, and make good any damage to your garden if it has to dig up your favourite flower bed. Finally, if your water supply can't be restored before the end of the day, Homeserve will reimburse you up to £500 in hotel bills.