There’s 121 days to go till the General Election and the two main parties have released reports attacking each others plans for the economy. You can read them both here:
A Cost Analysis of Labour Party Policy
The Tories Claims Don’t Add Up
The Conservative’s document outlines how a Labour government would increase spending by £27.1 billion in its first year alone. In his introductory remarks, George Osborne puts forward the ‘simple choice’ facing the British people in May:
‘Ed Miliband’s Labour Party that offers more spending, more borrowing and higher taxes – or David Cameron leading the Conservatives as we continue to work through a long-term economic plan that is reducing the deficit and building a stronger economy.
‘A Labour Government would take Britain back into economic crisis – and the British people have come too far to let that happen.
Labour have not taken kindly to this assertion. As well as releasing their own document, Ed Balls has hit out at Osborne — unwisely using the phrase ‘dodgy Tory dossier’:
‘This dodgy Tory dossier is riddled with untruths and errors on every page. It isn’t an impartial exercise but a political smear based on false assumptions made by Tory advisers, including dozens of claims which are not even Labour’s policies.
‘Labour has made no unfunded spending or tax commitments. In contrast the Tories have made over £7 billion a year of unfunded tax promises. George Osborne failed to explain today how they would be paid for. Will it be another VAT rise, even deeper cuts to public services or both? As the IFS said Labour has the most cautious approach of all the parties and has promised no net giveaways.
‘If the Tories wanted an honest debate they would stop blocking our proposal to allow the OBR to independently audit the manifestos of the main parties. And they would have allowed the Treasury to involve Labour in the production of proper costings, as I suggested in my letter to the Permanent Secretary yesterday. It’s now clear the Tories want to carry on spreading smears about Labour while avoiding independent scrutiny of their own plans.
‘George Osborne claimed his plan is working. But there is nothing competent about Tory policies that leave working people worse off and lead to over £200 billion more borrowing than planned. Labour will cut the deficit every year and balance the books in a tough but fair way – not risk taking Britain back to public spending as a share of national income last seen in the 1930s.’
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