Labour accuse Tories of lying over manifesto as tax and spend war heats up

Labour accused the Conservatives of “lying” over their manifesto plans as the row between the main parties over tax and spending intensified.

The Tories seized on comments made by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting that Sir Keir Starmer’s programme for government, unveiled last week, was not the “sum total” of what it planned to spend in power.

It is not unusual for political parties to go further in government than their election manifestos, particularly given a new spending review for the next few years will be due within months of polling day.

But the Conservative Party said Streeting had “let the cat out of the bag” by suggesting that Labour had not been fully open about its plans for the public finances.

Both sides have been trading blows over their respective manifestos since they were launched last week.

Rishi Sunak unveiled £17bn of tax cuts for voters, which Labour claim are unfunded. Labour’s own manifesto, launched by Starmer last week, set out £8.6bn in targeted tax rises on oil and gas production, private schools and non-doms as well as a pledge not to increase income tax, national insurance and VAT.

This has left the door open to further non-specified tax increases, which the Tories claim would be imposed by Starmer if he becomes prime minister.

Think tanks have also claimed that Labour will have to make spending cuts to avoid breaking their fiscal rules on borrowing. The Nuffield Trust said on Sunday that both Labour and the Tories’ plans for spending would leave the NHS with less funding than during the austerity years.

But Streeting told Sky News: “Where I disagree with the Nuffield Trust is the assumption they are making that this manifesto is the grand sum total of any future budgets and any future spending reviews.

“That is just wrong. That is not the way election campaigns work. Where Labour is making the fundamental argument in this election is that we’ve got to get the economy back to growth.”

A Conservative Spokesman said: “After a three-day long conspiracy of silence, Wes Streeting has finally said what we all know: Labour’s manifesto is just window dressing for the election campaign and they are planning to spend and tax more than they are telling the public.

“Wes Streeting has let the cat out of the bag on Labour spending policy signalling that Labour simply aren’t telling the truth about their plans.

“Labour is trying to get through this campaign by not being honest with families about the true cost of their plans and the cost to families up and down the country in higher taxes on your home, your car, your business and your pension.”

But a Labour spokesperson said: “The Conservatives crashed the economy and left our public services on their knees. That’s why economic growth is Labour’s number one priority.

“If the economy had grown as much as it did when Labour was last in office, there’d be tens of billions extra for public services, without having to hike up taxes in the way Rishi Sunak has.

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“The Tories have pledged billions in unfunded spending commitments, which will hike £4,800 onto people’s mortgages. The Tories are lying about Labour’s plan. Everything in Labour’s manifesto is fully costed, fully funded, and offers the change this country needs after 14 years of chaos.”

In a separate interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Streeting admitted he wanted Labour’s manifesto to be more “ambitious” on social care reform.

He said: “I make no bones about the fact, of course, on social care I would have wanted the manifesto to be more ambitious, but to get policies in the manifesto, you had to run the gauntlet of answering two fundamental questions, can we keep this promise? Can the country afford this promise?

“And if the answer to either of those questions was no, it’s not in the manifesto.”