Gun lords
The House of Lords shooting range is to be turned into a cupboard, having previously survived an attempt by Labour MPs in 1997 to turn it into a crèche.
— The range was constructed in 1916 for the Palace of Westminster Rifle Club, which managed to convince the Lord Great Chamberlain that rifle clubs were ‘a means of promoting a stronger sense of citizenship among members’.
— The motive was not to train lords for front but to help them practise for the annual Lords vs Commons shooting match, held at Bisley since 1862. An early participant was the Maharajah of Vizianagram, who in 1875 provided £400 to make a trophy for the event.
Minding the gap
Ed Balls told us to ask for a receipt from the man who cuts our hedge for a tenner — in the hope it might tackle tax evasion. Who is most to blame for the ‘tax gap’ — the difference between what HMRC theoretically should collect and what it collects (according to HMRC estimates)?
| Small and medium enterprises | £15.1bn |
| Large businesses | £9.3bn |
| Criminals | £5.4bn |
| Individuals | £4.6bn |
| Total | £34.4bn |
This is 6.8%
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