If two brothers or a brother and a sister declared that they were living in a sexual relationship in order to gain benefit from the inheritance tax, they would be pleading guilty in advance of a court hearing to committing a criminal act. My Lords, I very much fear that my noble friend has a dirty mind. My Lords, I simply cannot accept that implication. I hope, therefore, that my noble friend will withdraw that remark, whether he made it in jest or otherwise. My Lords, if my noble friend is offended, of course I withdraw my remark.
Some people think that a dirty mind is a perpetual feast.
As regards his specific question, no preference is being suggested for homosexual couples. It was not suggested by my noble friend Lady Rendell. My noble friend asked for a wider extension of the rules for inheritance taxes than for married couples as at present. There is no question of preference there. My Lords, I believe that the point raised by the noble Baroness relates to the marital home or the home in which the two people live.