Ed’s election chief admits: We won’t try to balance budget

LABOUR yesterday admitted it will borrow billions more than the Tories – as experts warned the party’s plans would leave a £30billion black hole at the heart of the nation’s finances.

Ed Miliband’s elections chief Lucy Powell confirmed the party ‘may use some investment borrowing’ to fund its manifesto if it wins the election.

And the Institute for Fiscal Studies said Labour’s plans would potentially leave Britain with a permanent budget deficit – piling up massive debts for future generations.

The think tank’s director Paul Johnson said Labour’s proposals allowed it to maintain an overall deficit as high as £30billion by 2020 – at a time when the Tories aim to be running a surplus of £7billion to pay off Britain’s debts.

Miss Powell later said she did not recognise the £30billion. But under pressure, she confirmed Labour would borrow to fund the Government’s investment spending, which is forecast to be about that amount by 2020.

‘We are going to balance the books for current expenditure by the end of the Parliament,’ she said. ‘We may use some investment borrowing for much-needed investment but not for day-to-day spending.

‘Those figures are other people’s figures. It depends on what the books are like.’

Tory Treasury minister Priti Patel said Miss Powell had ‘let the cat out of the bag’. She added: ‘Labour have finally had it dragged out of them that they’d borrow more if Ed Miliband gets into Downing Street.

‘Add in that they’re refusing to admit which taxes they’d raise and you’ve got a recipe for economic chaos.’

Mr Miliband is expected to use the launch of his party’s business manifesto today to attack Tory planned Tory cuts.