Parties 'misleading' voters on tax and spending plans

Tories and Labour both being dishonest, warns economist

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

Labour and the Conservatives have been accused of misleading voters over their tax and spending plans, and of ignoring a potential £20bn hole in the public finances after the election.

Amid a war of words over the question of whether Sir Keir Starmer or Rishi Sunak would rule out a VAT hike, a top economist told The Independent that both parties are being dishonest with voters about the country’s finances.

Carl Emmerson, deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said both parties have committed to reducing Britain’s debt in the next five years. “For better or worse, that is going to require some combination of tax rises or spending cuts,” he told The Independent.

Mr Emmerson also hit out at the row over which taxes each party has committed to freezing, noting that Sir Keir and Mr Sunak have both committed to maintaining frozen tax thresholds, which will mean higher taxes for millions of workers.

After Labour and the Conservatives vowed not to raise the headline rates of national insurance, income tax or VAT, Mr Emmerson said they had chosen “an easier sell”. But he said frozen income tax and national insurance thresholds would cost taxpayers an additional £11bn a year by the end of the next parliament. By contrast, a 1p income tax hike would cost taxpayers just £9bn.