'Their numbers don't add up': Respected IFS think-tank delivers devastating verdict on Labour's 'pretend' £50bn tax plans - warning that EVERYONE faces paying more
- Institute for Fiscal Studies delivers stark warning on Labour's manifesto plans
- Says Corbyn is 'pretending' he can fund huge splurge by only hitting the wealthy
- Director Paul Johnson says that Labour's numbers 'simple don't add up'
The IFS made clear that Jeremy Corbyn's (pictured) 'numbers simply don't add up'
A respected independent think-tank delivered a devastating verdict on Labour's 'dangerous' plans for a huge spending splurge today - warning they would mean tax rises for everyone, not just the rich.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said Jeremy Corbyn's party was 'pretending' it could finance a wish list of commitments such as abolishing tuition fees purely by hitting companies and the wealthy.
But director Paul Johnson made clear that their 'numbers simply don't add up'.
The damning assessment comes on the eve of the election, and with polls showing that the race is too close to call.
Labour’s manifesto promises an array of expensive commitments, including scrapping university tuition fees at a cost of £11.2billion a year and ending austerity. Tens of billions more would be spent renationalising the energy, water, rail and mail industries - although that was not costed at all in the party's plans.
On the party's own figures, the tax burden would rise by around 10 per cent to the highest level since 1949.
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Mr Corbyn has also made seemingly off-the-cuff commitments to lavish outlays such as writing off debts already accumulated by students - which could mean a bill of up to £30billion - without saying how they would be paid for.
Appearing on BBC Radio 5 Live today, Mr Johnson rejected Labour's claim that it could finance 'enormous' increases in public spending purely by increasing taxes for the highest 5 per cent of earners and businesses.
essentially by huge increases in tax on companies and some big increases in tax on the highest earners,' he said.
'And actually they can't. Their numbers simply don't add up. They cannot raise the £50billion a year that they say they would raise in the way they would raise it from...
'If they tried it would be enormously economically damaging. Because none of these other countries that have these much higher levels of tax and spending do all of that additional taxation by hitting companies, and particularly in the context of Brexit when we are worried about inward investment.
'To be doing that would be dangerous.
'I think they are highly likely to have to increase other taxes, whether that be income tax or NI on ordinary workers - or have really unsustainable levels of public borrowing.'
Mr Johnson said the main parties were 'miles and miles and miles apart' and criticised the Tories for being guarded about their plans.
He said the Conservative offer appeared to be: 'We are the stable competent party, we're going to keep spending and taxes down as low as we can - it's just that we're not exactly sure how low that is.'
Theresa May, pictured at Smithfield Market in London today, has warned that Labour is relying on a 'magic money tree' to fund its spending splurge
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