Britain’s three main party leaders, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, have all promised to leave a tenth of their wealth to charity when they die.
The politicians are donating they money as part of a new drive to get British people to leave more money to good causes in their wills.The Government will waive inheritance tax on charitable donations in wills at a cost of around £300 million per year from this April, which it hopes will spark a new trend towards philanthropy.A spokesman for the Prime Minister confirmed he was leaving 10 per cent of his money as part of the Legacy10 campaign, which tries to encourage people to be philanthropic with their bequests.
A number of rich businessmen have already pledged money to the campaign, including Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin, Sir Roger Carr, Chairman of British Gas owner Centrica, Sir Nigel Rudd, Chairman of airport operator BAA and Charles Dunstone, co-founder of The Carphone Warehouse.The extent of Mr Cameron’s wealth remains a mystery, but he is thought to be a millionaire. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, is the son of a millionaire banker. Roland Rudd, the founder of Legacy10, said he hoped the pledges by politicians would encourage others to donate.
“The appeal of Legacy10 is its simplicity,” he said. “We are asking people to make a contribution to their favourite cultural or charitable cause in their will, the benefit to that cause will be four times bigger than the small loss to the donor.“I am so pleased that all of our main political leaders have not only chosen to support Legacy10 but have also made a personal commitment to change their wills to make the pledge.”Fewer than one in ten people currently make a donation to charity in their wills. Legacy10 is trying to raise awareness about the tax changes, claiming that four in five people are unaware of new measures to encourage charitable giving. – Thetelegraph
