General election 2019: Spending row erupts between Labour and Conservatives
Tories cost Labour’s policies at £1.2trillion, but fail to offer equivalent figure for own spending plans
The Conservative Party has been accused of deliberating misleading the public after publishing a cost breakdown of Labour’s economic policies which it claimed would run to over a trillion pounds and leave the UK on the brink of bankruptcy.
The analysis, drawn up by the Conservative Research Department and not the Treasury after the cabinet secretary barred the release of official government assessments, claims Labour’s policies would cost £1.2tn over the course of the next five years, if the party wins next month’s general election.
This would amount to an extra £650m a day in office, the Chancellor Sajid Javid said, warning against such “reckless” spending which would leave the country with an economic crisis within “months” and require taxes set at the “highest level we’ve ever seen in peacetime”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Labour’s plans to renationalise rail, energy and water, and bring in a four-day-week represented a “truly frightening spending splurge” that would leave the country on “the brink of bankruptcy”.
The Daily Telegraph says the move “comes as part of a drive by the Conservatives to portray themselves as the ‘sensible’ party on the economy, with their spending plans focused on ‘responsible investment’ rather than ‘reckless borrowing’”.
“Javid’s attempt at a clear ‘fiscal divide’ with Labour suggests that he has won his struggle with Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s most senior aide, who had wanted more spending to win over Labour leave voters in the north of England and in Wales,” says The Sunday Times.
However, The Guardian says the analysis, which was “briefed to sympathetic newspapers” on Sunday, was quickly “debunked by the opposition and commentators”.
The paper says the figure “includes motions passed at the Labour conference, unlikely to be included in the party’s election manifesto, which has yet to be published”.
The shadow chancellor John McDonnell called the document a “ludicrous piece of Tory fake news” and said their analysis was “bad maths” cooked up because they know the popularity of Labour’s plans.
Meanwhile, Labour’s Co-National Campaign Coordinator Andrew Gwynne called the analysis “fiction”, promising the party’s manifesto would be fully costed.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues for £6–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“There are problems with the Conservative Party's approach” says the BBC’s Reality Check.
“As Labour has not yet published its election manifesto, previous pledges may well be dropped, while new ones could still be added. That makes the job of accurately costing election pledges, at this stage of the campaign, impossible.”
Some policies, such as free bus travel for under-25s, which the Tories state would cost £7bn over five years, or the £30bn cost for improving home insulation, “are relatively straightforward to price,” says the Financial Times.
“But other claims are less certain,” says the paper. “The £4.5bn cost for a universal basic income does not take account that Labour has only pledged to pilot the scheme. The £200bn cost for renationalisation may also be an overstatement, as Labour has suggested it would not pay market rates. The 32-hour working week, costed at £85bn, is not a compulsory proposal and would be implemented over a decade”.
The Sunday Times says the Tories also “assume that spending on some plans, such as Labour’s four-day-week proposals, will start on the first day the party enters Downing Street”.
What is more, Politico says Tory ministers “had little in the way of answers to the inevitable questions about their own spending plans”.
Asked by Sky’s Sophy Ridge what the Conservatives’ equivalent spending figure was to the one they had calculated for Labour, Brexit minister Kwasi Kwarteng said he was “not going to bandy around figures” to which Ridge replied “but that’s what you’ve been doing for Labour”.
Similarly, Sajid Javid refused to be drawn on whether Boris Johnson’s expensive tax cut for higher earners he first unveiled during the Tory leadership campaign would make it into the manifesto.
The party will nevertheless be pleased its analysis appears to have cut through after dominating the front pages of Sunday’s newspapers, with the Mail on Sunday, the Sunday Times, and Sunday Telegraph all leading with it.
But the strategy is not without risks, says the FT, as a sustained debate on the economy “may also remind voters of how much Corbyn would like to invest in public services”.
According to a YouGov survey, public confidence in the Conservatives’ ability to deliver growth is higher than Labour’s but still low, “suggesting Boris Johnson faces a battle to win over voters on the economy,” says the Sunday Times.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Pros and cons of solar energy
Pros and cons Solar power could become the primary source of electricity worldwide by 2050 – but there are still clouds in the forecast
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Post Office's Capture software to be reviewed over 'glitches'
Speed Read Solicitor representing accused postmasters says flaws in the IT system follow 'very similar pattern' to Horizon
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
How would we know if World War Three had started?
Today's Big Question With conflicts in Ukraine, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, the 'spark' that could ignite all-out war 'already exists'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Mark Menzies: Tories investigate MP after 'bad people' cash claims
Speed Read Fylde MP will sit as an independent while party looks into allegations he misused campaign funds on medical expenses and blackmail pay-out
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Is David Cameron overshadowing Rishi Sunak?
Talking Point Current PM faces 'thorny dilemma' as predecessor enjoys return to world stage
By The Week UK Published
-
How will honeytrap scandal change Westminster?
Today's Big Question Security procedures laid bare by spear phishing attack as focus shifts to 'political insider' being responsible
By The Week UK Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Farewell to Theresa May: a PM consumed by Brexit
Talking Point Maidenhead MP standing down at next general election
By The Week UK Published
-
Britain's biggest political donors
The Explainer With the 2024 general election set to be the highest-spending contest ever we look at who is giving to which party and why
By The Week UK Published
-
Can Boris Johnson save Rishi Sunak?
Today's Big Question Former PM could 'make the difference' between losing the next election and annihilation
By The Week UK Published
-
Badenoch, Johnson or 'full Trump': who is the future of the Tory Party?
Today's Big Question Tory moderates are preparing to do battle with the right of the party in a post-Sunak leadership election
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published