Labour says Tories planning deep spending cuts

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/23/labour-says-tories-planning-deep-spending-cuts

Version 0 of 1.

Labour claimed on Thursday that spending cuts planned by the Conservatives are bigger than those planned in any of the world’s most advanced 33 countries and will be deeper in the next three years than the last five.

The Labour claim comes ahead of a briefing on Thursday by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the main parties’ tax and spending plans and represents an attempt by the leadership to bring the campaign back to one of the central issues of Tory spending cuts.

The claim that the cuts proposed by the Conservatives are deeper than anything proposed by any in 33 countries is drawn from an analysis by the International Monetary Fund which has also recently praised the British government for its return to growth.

In a briefing designed to challenge Cameron’s claims that he is offering a Good Life to the British public, Miliband said his claims that the worst of the cuts have already been made have already been shown to be untrue by the IFS and the Tory plan for a second term will put key public services, including our NHS, at risk.

Labour asserted the Tories are planning cuts to public services of 3% of GDP until 2018, which is unprecedented in any three-year period for the UK since the post-war demobilisation.

The IFS researchers are due to present the implications of manifesto commitments for debt and borrowing, and for overall levels of tax and spending.

They have been deeply critical of all parties, suggesting the Tories have made a series of unfunded spending commitments and arguing Labour’s deficit reduction plans are so unclear that it is possible Labour could go through the next parliament without making any extra cuts beyond those being implemented in 2015-16. It is also likely to highlight the extent to which Labour may borrow for capital investment.

Paul Johnson, the IFS’s director has become increasingly frustrated warning that the manifesto commitments “would be laughable if it weren’t playing into a wider narrative that there is a magic money tree that we can pluck at will. There isn’t.

“All these taxes, if collectable at all, are paid in the end by individuals. Many of them, especially when layered one upon the other, will have damaging economic effects. They have something in common, too, with proposals to cut ‘welfare’ spending. They are hidden from the mainstream voter. They take money from other (but as yet largely unspecified) people.”

David Cameron, in an email to voters being sent with two weeks to polling day, warns that the stakes have got higher due to the clear likelihood that Labour will be dependent on the SNP for support.

In his email Cameron says: “We’ve learnt from the polls that every vote is crucial. We need just 23 seats to stop the SNP/Miliband nightmare – one that would hit everyone in the pocket. We’ve got just two weeks to make our case: the case for a stronger economy and brighter future for Britain”.

The Tories were highlighting a video in which Alex Salmond, the former Scottish secretary, jokes that the SNP will be writing Labour’s first budget.

Miliband replied that only Labour would be writing a Labour budget, and there would be no talks with the SNP in advance.

Miliband in a speech in Leeds will say: “This general election is coming down to a straight choice about who will stand up for working families: a choice between another five years of a recovery just reaching big firms in the City of London with the Tories – or Labour’s better plan to ensure the recovery reaches the front doors of working people across Britain.

“And, with two weeks to go, it’s time that choice was made plain and clear. The Tories want to pretend that another five years of their failing plan is the route to the good life. But the truth is they are engaged in a grand deception.

“David Cameron is running a desperate campaign, talking about anything but their record of failure or their plans for the future. They might not want to talk it, but we will.

“The Tories are committed to the most extreme spending plans of any political party in generations.

“It is a plan so extreme that IMF figures show Britain would be facing the deepest cuts over the next three years of any advanced country in the world.”