LABOUR has belatedly called out Rishi Sunak for lying about the party’s tax plans after dozy Sir Keir Starmer had failed to do so in the televised leaders’ debate.
The Premier turned in an aggressive debate performance that pivoted on accusing Labour of raising tax bills by £2,000 a year, a charge which Sir Keir did not rebut for more than 45 minutes.
Labour eventually hit back, terming Mr Sunak’s figures false and adding that the Tories’ plans would lead to still bigger tax hikes.
Mr Sunak claimed his sums were based on independent Treasury calculations, but it emerged that they had been cooked up by special advisers — political appointees — factoring in dodgy assumptions.
But independent expert Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies charged that both leaders had dodged the fact that taxes would need to go up if their spending commitments were to be delivered.
He posted on X: “Depressing debate last night. No openness about tax and spend. Big direct tax rises are nailed in over next 3 years whoever wins, as allowances and thresholds are frozen. Avoiding big spending cuts while keeping to promises on debt will require more tax rises.”
And socialist economist Grace Blakeley said in a Momentum video that the row proved that Labour needed a new tax policy, including a wealth tax, or risked continuing economic decline for Britain.
Labour claimed that the Conservatives have made even more unfunded spending commitments, including the complete abolition of National Insurance and the reintroduction of conscription, and that they would therefore have to raise an extra £3,000 in taxes per person.
The set-piece debate on ITV was marked by both feisty sparring from the two leaders and an attempt to show empathy with questioners in the audience worried about the cost of living and the NHS without actually committing to any policies to change things.
But Labour eagerly seized on the “lie” row today to divert from the fact that Sir Keir had let the tax-hike charge, a staple of every Conservative election campaign for a century, pass by unchallenged.
Labour has leaned heavily on a commitment not to put up income tax, National Insurance or VAT, so former party leader Ed Miliband was deputed to attack Mr Sunak as a liar.
He said: “Truth matters in politics — Rishi Sunak got his sums wrong and should be brave enough to admit it. His own analysis shows his plan will cost the country more and leave our country exposed.”
Mr Sunak’s figures were slated by the former permanent secretary to the Treasury Nick MacPherson as having “little if any credibility” while the present incumbent James Bowler said that civil servants were “not involved in the production or presentation of the Conservative Party’s document ‘Labour’s Tax Rises’” nor “in the calculation of the total figure used.”
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union representing top civil servants, said the row threatened their impartiality and stressed that “civil servants aren’t independent, they serve the government of the day regardless of which party.
“The figures quoted are based on special advisers’ and ministers’ assumptions, which civil servants are then asked to calculate.”
The leader’s debate probably did little to shift the political dial.
Mr Sunak and Sir Keir stuck closely to their scripts, including the Labour leader twice reminding the country that his father had worked as a toolmaker.
Sir Keir sought to outflank the Tories on the right in relation to migrant boat crossing and military spending, and has repackaged his state-run GB Energy plan as a national security move directed against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Labour leader drew applause when he showed any sign of promising active government, while Mr Sunak only won audible approval on the issue of migration — and derisive laughter over his national service plan.
One opinion poll narrowly called the debate for Mr Sunak, and another for Sir Keir.
