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The Conservatives and Labor have been locked in a war of words ahead of the election, with the Conservatives and Labor accused of hiding their tax and spending plans from voters.
Jeremy Hunt has accused Labor of needing to raise an extra £10bn a year to pay for spending pledges if it comes to power, but the Opposition insists this is not true.
The Prime Minister was criticized for the calculations made by Treasury officials, which were based on assumptions made by Tory advisers.
Labor also accused him of a £40bn hole in his plans after he promised to scrap National Insurance for workers without explaining how the revenue would be replaced.
But Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the numbers in question were relatively trivial compared to the need to find significant savings next year to make ends meet without additional taxes or borrowing. I warned you that it wasn’t there.
Mr Hunt has previously outlined plans to limit future increases in public spending, with Resolution Foundation estimates showing that Whitehall departments other than protected sectors such as health and defence, which are already guaranteed increases. It is estimated that a reduction of £19 billion will be required.
Mr Johnson said: I“What’s frustrating is that neither party has essentially said anything about how they’re going to distribute the very limited funding they have after 2025.”
He pointed out that the Chancellor had announced in his budget that the next spending review, outlining where cuts would be made, would be delayed until after the election.
He added: “The reason he doesn’t want to tell us about the numbers he has put in is because he would have to tell us where the cuts would fall, but he won’t do that and Labor won’t. It doesn’t say whether they have more money to spend, but if they don’t, they’ll have to face the same incredibly difficult choices Mr. Hunt is avoiding. It won’t happen.”
“I think the whole problem here is that neither side is being honest about the very difficult decisions that have to be made after the next election,” Johnson said in an interview with Times Radio. said.
In his speech on Friday, Mr Hunt admitted he still wanted another cut to National Insurance before the general election. “If we can afford to further responsibly reduce double taxation on labor this fall, I will do it,” he said.
The Prime Minister added: “It is my promise that the tax burden will be reduced under a future Conservative government.”
He slammed Labor’s claim that employee national insurance contributions could only be abolished by cutting pensions and NHS funding, saying: “Frankly, that’s a lie.” I make no bones about it. This is fake news and it is absolutely disgraceful that they are trying to win this election by scaring pensioners about policies that are not true. ”
Ministers and their aides have in recent months asked civil servants to compile a “cost accounting” for the Labor plan based on the opposition’s public statements about the tax and spending policies the government will introduce.
Mr Hunt claimed the document showed Labor needed to raise an extra £10bn a year by 2029, but shadow ministers said the calculations were based on incorrect assumptions. argued that it contained numerous factual errors.
Tim Roenig, former adviser to Rishi Sunak at the Treasury and now economics adviser at Public First, said: “Mr Jeremy Hunt has shown two things today. First, Labor will have to make tough decisions in government. They know that. Second, he has He is willing to use taxpayers’ money to produce poorly evidenced potshots at the opposition. There are far more black holes in his claims than there are in Labor’s proposals.”
He said sending military aid to Ukraine would require additional funding rather than drawing on existing MoD budgets, and that new regional teams within schools regulator Ofsted would receive additional income. It pointed out a number of specific problems with this document, including the claim that .
A Labor Party spokesperson said: “This is a sign that the Conservatives are seeking to deviate from their £46bn unfunded tax plan which could lead to increased borrowing, higher taxes on pensioners or the end of the National Pension as we know it. “This is another desperate attempt.”
“All of Labour’s policies are fully costed and fully funded. Unlike the Conservatives, who crashed the economy, Labor will never play fast and loose with public finances.”