Sunak and Starmer Warn on Economy Ahead of UK Election

10 days to go into the election. Can the PM, Lizzie do anything to turn the tide, to turn the fortune for him and his party? Well, we're getting closer but that poll gap just does not seem to be budging. It's about a 20 point lead Labour's got at the moment. And you and I were speaking to the former Chancellor Philip Hammond yesterday. I thought it was interesting where he said it wasn't really about winning, it's more about trying to prevent the Conservatives becoming a rump in opposition and limiting the defeat. He also said that the Tory betting scandal gamble gate is similar to party gate. But Tom, what I think so curious about this election and where we're at at the moment is that there's so little detail on the fiscal side. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that the UK voting public is in a knowledge vacuum because no one is really addressing the fiscal constraints, the stark choice between higher taxes, spending cuts and more borrowing. And the Office for Budget Responsibility has this forecast that you're going to have about nought .5% growth a year to solve the problems fiscally. But the IFS saying. Even that's unlikely, more likely as the Bank of England's outlook which would leave a £30 billion fiscal black hole. And how do you solve that when the Conservatives and Labour in what the IFS calls? A tax lock arms race where neither party wants to raise any of the three main rates of time. Yeah, the ifs damning of both parties and their manifestos and both parties taking issue with that assessment. Did we get any clarity on those issues from the business secretary and the shadow business sector? We we hosted the debate here at Bloomberg yesterday. Did anything come through on that front from them? Well, unsurprisingly, in front of an audience of business leaders, no one wanted to say that they were going to raise tax. It was interesting that Kenny Badenoch, who's the front runner to take over the Conservative Party post election. Didn't rule out a leadership bid. And actually I think the irony is that it's that speculation about who's going to take over the Conservative Party that's led to so much instability. And actually you talk about policy clarity. Jonathan Reynolds, her opposite number who was debating her, What he did promise was stability and little more really when it came to the detail. Neither party, as I say, is talking about raising the three main levers of tax. Labour neither nor Labour didn't want to either say that they would rejoin the single market or the customs union. You could not have found an audience. That would be more welcoming of that idea. What he did say was that there would be closer ties with Europe.