Readers Queries and Why Life begins again on 6th Apr 08

Just to answer a few of the readers queries that I have received in the last couple of days.

The new lifetime £1m limit on CGT does indeed start again on 6th Apr 08. So if you like me have already busted the £1m limit taxed at 10% under the previous regime, that all gets 'written off' and you start again. This could have an effect on those readers who might be dithering (to use the word of the moment) about selling up before the end of this tax year. If you sold a part of your investment, you could still leave a potential gain of £1m on the table to be realised later which would still only be taxed at 10%.

If you reread Crazy changes to CGT you will see that Stephen Timms MP (Timms was an analyst at Ovum earlier in his career) had sent in a response. I'm not sure if I got an exclusive at the time, but Timms had been Minister of State for Business and Competiveness but Peter Hain had just quit and Timms says in his comment that he had been moved back to the Department of Work and Pensions as the new Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform under James Purnell (who also addressed today's Prince's Trust Parliamentary Reception - see above) This move was announced officially today. More relevantly for tech, Timm's role as Minister of State for Competitiveness - which includes trying to get a more effective broadband service in the UK - has been taken by Baroness Shriti Vadera. See Timms replaced by tough new IT minister - but don't be hoodwinked. IT is one of thirteen industry sectors that Vadera will have responsibility for. Such is the importance of IT nowadays.

Bill Gates addressed a Prince's Trust Parlimentary Reception at the House of Commons today. Microsoft have been members and supporters of the Prince's Trust Technology Leadership Group for some years; I am the current Chairman. In answer to those readers who asked what Bill said to me, I can honestly report that the only words he addressed directly to me were "Who are you?". I have already replied to the reader who asked me to take up with Bill the faults he has had on his X Box.

Who paid for your lunch with Mark Hunter at Axon?
I did. I have had a rule for many decades that the least I can do for anyone who takes the trouble to visit me in Farnham, is to pay for the lunch.
I'd also like to make clear that I wasn't giving any personal view about whether Axon would make or exceed current analyst forecasts. I was merely saying that Axon has already publically said that they will and Mark Hunter concurred. I haven't got a clue whether this expectation is right or wrong. On the other hand, Hunter has never knowingly deceived me in the past.