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| IFS makes damning assessment of Tory and Labour manifestos | IFS makes damning assessment of Tory and Labour manifestos |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Neither of the two main parties “has set out an honest set of choices” to the public over their tax and spending plans, the Institute of Fiscal Studies has said. | Neither of the two main parties “has set out an honest set of choices” to the public over their tax and spending plans, the Institute of Fiscal Studies has said. |
| In its assessment of the Conservative and Labour party manifestos, the thinktank said neither addressed the long-term challenges facing the UK. | In its assessment of the Conservative and Labour party manifestos, the thinktank said neither addressed the long-term challenges facing the UK. |
| The Tory focus on cutting immigration risked a £6bn hit to the exchequer and the plans for continued austerity could prove impossible to deliver without causing serious damage to services, the IFS warned. | The Tory focus on cutting immigration risked a £6bn hit to the exchequer and the plans for continued austerity could prove impossible to deliver without causing serious damage to services, the IFS warned. |
| Labour’s proposals would raise spending to its highest level since the mid-1980s and tax levels to record levels in peacetime, the thinktank said. But the party’s plans for tax hikes aimed at top earners and businesses may “not raise anything like” the £48.6bn claimed and its proposals could turn out to be “economically damaging”, said the IFS. | Labour’s proposals would raise spending to its highest level since the mid-1980s and tax levels to record levels in peacetime, the thinktank said. But the party’s plans for tax hikes aimed at top earners and businesses may “not raise anything like” the £48.6bn claimed and its proposals could turn out to be “economically damaging”, said the IFS. |
| The thinktank’s deputy director, Carl Emmerson, said: “The shame of the two big parties’ manifestos is that neither sets out an honest set of choices. Neither addresses the long-term challenges we face. For Labour we can have pretty much everything – free higher education, free childcare, more spending on pay, health, infrastructure. | The thinktank’s deputy director, Carl Emmerson, said: “The shame of the two big parties’ manifestos is that neither sets out an honest set of choices. Neither addresses the long-term challenges we face. For Labour we can have pretty much everything – free higher education, free childcare, more spending on pay, health, infrastructure. |
| “And the pretence is that can all be funded by faceless corporations and ‘the rich’. The case [for higher taxes] needs to be made with honesty about what it would mean for tax payments, not pretending that everything can be paid for by ‘someone else’.” | “And the pretence is that can all be funded by faceless corporations and ‘the rich’. The case [for higher taxes] needs to be made with honesty about what it would mean for tax payments, not pretending that everything can be paid for by ‘someone else’.” |
| Turning to the Tory plans, he said: “The Conservatives simply offer the cuts already promised. Additional funding pledges for the NHS and schools are just confirming that spending would rise in a way broadly consistent with the March budget.” | Turning to the Tory plans, he said: “The Conservatives simply offer the cuts already promised. Additional funding pledges for the NHS and schools are just confirming that spending would rise in a way broadly consistent with the March budget.” |
| Emmerson dismissed Theresa May’s plans to reduce benefits to the elderly by means-testing the winter fuel payment and scrapping the pensions triple-lock as making “wholly trivial” savings. And he said the manifesto U-turn over a cap on care costs would result in “presumably increasing public spending overall”. | Emmerson dismissed Theresa May’s plans to reduce benefits to the elderly by means-testing the winter fuel payment and scrapping the pensions triple-lock as making “wholly trivial” savings. And he said the manifesto U-turn over a cap on care costs would result in “presumably increasing public spending overall”. |
| The Tory commitment to get net migration down to the tens of thousands risked harming the economy, particularly when coupled with the ageing British population, Emmerson said. | The Tory commitment to get net migration down to the tens of thousands risked harming the economy, particularly when coupled with the ageing British population, Emmerson said. |
| “Their continued focus on reducing immigration would, if effective, cause considerable economic damage as well as creating an additional problem for the public finances,” he added. | “Their continued focus on reducing immigration would, if effective, cause considerable economic damage as well as creating an additional problem for the public finances,” he added. |
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