§ It is not just businesses that create wealth. Thanks to this Government's policies, ordinary hard-working people have a bigger personal stake in the wealth of this country than ever before. In our property-owning democracy, more and more people have the opportunity to own their own homes, have occupational or personal pensions, invest in TESSAs and PEPs, build up other savings and own shares. Those benefits are now being enjoyed by the many and not just the few.
§ Many people who do not consider themselves rich work hard and save for their families throughout their whole lives. They pay their taxes when they work. They want to pass on their family capital without having it taxed again when they die. Many people want to pass on an inheritance to their children and their grandchildren to give them a better start in life than they had. That is a natural instinct in families. Inheritance is now an issue for middle Britain. It is to help middle Britain that we aim to abolish inheritance tax as soon as we can afford to do so.
§ It is a myth that inheritance tax is paid only by the very rich. In fact, the very rich are well placed to dispose of their wealth in their own lifetime. Most people hit by inheritance tax are those who would not consider themselves rich at all. These are people who bequeath not much more than the present tax-free allowance of £154,000. They may be people who own their home and a few modest investments. There are many more people like them who fear that their assets will be hit by inheritance tax. I therefore propose to increase the tax-free allowance substantially to £200,000. The number paying inheritance tax will be reduced by one third and only one in 45 estates will now pay that tax.
§ Inheritance tax can also have a direct effect on enterprise. A family company, for example, may have to be broken up when the owner dies. We already recognise that problem through the existence of business property relief for qualifying unquoted companies. I now propose to remove the problem altogether by extending 100 per cent. relief to unquoted shareholdings, whatever their size.