True cost of Red Ed’s tax and spend fantasy

IN an election campaign characterised by the disingenuousness with which the three main parties have vied with each other to see who could spend the most of your money, it’s Labour that’s been guilty of the greatest cynicism.

Ed Miliband has tried to convince voters they can have it all – deficit reduction, higher wages, more welfare and NHS spending – without the pain of major cuts and with tax rises only for the richest.

Yesterday, that absurd fantasy was comprehensively demolished by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, which calculates Labour will have to increase taxes by an eye- watering £12billion to make their sums add up. Given that their much- trumpeted mansion tax and new 50p top rate of income tax would bring in a maximum of £2billion, this means an extra £10billion being extracted from ordinary taxpayers – an average of around £400 a year each.

Even more disturbingly, the IFS predicts Labour would increase Britain’s total debt burden by £90billion more than the Tories would over the next five years.

True, the IFS had some questions over where George Osborne’s spending cuts would fall but at least they recognised he has a strong record of trying to balance the nation’s books.

Anyone who still believes there’s no difference between the economic policies of Labour and the Tories needs to read this report. The choice is brutally simple.

Under the Tories, Britain will start paying down its terrifying £1.6trillion debt within three years – without tax rises. Under Labour that debt will go up indefinitely – an ever-growing financial millstone around the necks of our children and grandchildren.