4:51pm Saturday 10th May 2008
By James Wallin
THE surviving Burden sister from Ogbourne St George will not be forced to give up the family home, a Government spokesman has promised.
The campaign by Joyce, 89, and 82-year-old Sybil Burden to change the inheritance tax laws to give them the same rights as married couples and civil partners, was taken to the House of Lords.
Peers lined up to urge the Government to change the "mean-spirited" situation that does not give siblings the same rights as married or civil partners.
Responding to the calls, Lord Davies of Oldham, for the Government, vowed that on the death of one sister the other would not be forced out of her home.
But he ruled out a change in the inheritance tax law, saying that "the line has to be drawn somewhere".
The Burden sisters, who have lived together in Ogbourne St George all their lives, have been campaigning since 1976 for changes to the inheritance tax laws to exempt cohabiting siblings.
But last month their appeal against a European Court of Human Rights ruling was turned down, leaving them with no higher court to take their case.
Speaking in the House of Lords debate, Crossbench peer Baroness Deech asked if the Government had plans to change the inheritance tax rules to give some leeway to siblings living together.
Lord Davies said that there were no plans for change and that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was "not in the business of dispossessing people of their homes".
He added: "HMRC works sympathetically in cases such as the one that has been identified by the two sisters. No one is contemplating one of them losing her place in the home if the other dies. That will not happen."
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Newby said: "Does the minister accept that while the current situation may be clear, it is also seen by many people as extremely mean-spirited?"
Lord Davies insisted that a line had to be drawn somewhere and that "at the present time a clear line is drawn in terms of spouses, either of marriage or of civil partnerships".
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