IFS manifesto verdict: neither Tories nor Labour have credible spending plan
Respected thinktank describes stark choice between Labour’s sweeping change and Tories pledging nothing new
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has attacked the spending plans of the UK’s two main parties, saying neither election manifesto “is a properly credible prospectus”.
Paul Johnson, the director of the respected thinktank, noted that the Conservatives’ election manifesto in 2017 pledged more austerity and spending cuts, but in reality public service spending had gone up, and was due to be around £27bn higher next year than implied by the manifesto. In fact, he said, it was closer to the 2017 Labour pledge than the Tories’ own manifesto.