Dear David Re: George Osborne Whatever else you may think about him, I and many others will be eternally grateful to him for abolishing the compulsory purchase of annuities at age 75. In 1998, when he was Shadow Chancellor, I wrote to him asking what his view was about compulsory purchase. I received a courteous reply saying it was his intention to abolish the requirement, which of course he did shortly after coming into office and just in time for my 75th birthday ! I wrote a similar letter to the then Chancellor, Ed Balls, and got no reply. But in a later speech he scornfully referred to it as a problem that only concerned "a few rich people" ( his exact words ) !

David Fuller's view

Well, you are certainly one of my heroes for having had the foresight to write to George Osborne in 1998. Many of our generation remember worrying about the insanity of compulsory purchase of annuities at the age of 75. His reply was gracious and Labour Shadow Chancellor at the time, Ed Balls, replied in a manner all too familiar.