So what will Starmer really do if he gets the keys to Downing St?

SIR Keir Starmer today faced a series of major questions over what Labour would do in government as polls put him just days away from walking into No 10.

- Nicholas Cecil

While the election focus has been on tax, the main parties have been accused of a “conspiracy of silence” over what looks like an inevitable squeeze on some public services after July 4. Even most of the commitments made are quite modest.

Public spending

Burning questions remain as to what the next government will do about the social care crisis, ailing NHS, cost-ofliving, homes shortage, courts system delays, overcrowded prisons, and growing welfare bill.

“The debate on tax and spending policy has been dominated by arguments about how a series of relatively small spending pledges would be funded,” said Resolution Foundation research director James Smith.

“But such debates are a sideshow compared to big questions about how the next government would manage the uncertainties facing the public finances. All this means that the fiscal debate has become detached from the fiscal reality.”

Some £19 billion of cuts to unprotected departments, including justice, the Home Office and local government, are “baked into post-election spending plans,” he added.

Labour is yet to commit to a date to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, with the Tories saying 2030.

Tax

Labour, like the Conservatives, have ruled out increasing income tax, VAT and national insurance. Yet the UK tax burden will grow, partly due to a £10 billion-a-year tax rise for three more years through stealth freezes on personal allowances and thresholds.