“…he 1980 Act as that section was ambiguous. He relied, principally, upon a dictum of Lord Sterndale M.R. in Cape Brandy Syndicate v Inland Revenue Commissioners [1921] 2 KB 403 and dicta of judges in subsequent cases approving that dictum. Lord Sterndale M.R. said at pages 414-415 of his judgment in Cape Brandy that “subsequent legisl…”
“… as persuasive authority as to its meaning”. It is perhaps sufficient to record that Lord Sterndale MR in Cape Brandy Syndicate v. Inland Revenue Commissioners [1921] 2 KB 403 at page 414 emphasised the point that the legislation being construed had first to be shown to be ambiguous when he said:…”