Full Fact has issued a statement concerning the Conservative Party’s claim that Labour will raise taxes by £2,000 if they get elected.
In his opening pitch to voters on ITV, prime minister Rishi Sunak sought to draw dividing lines with his rival as he claimed Sir Keir would “raid” pension pots and raise taxes on families.
Sunak said Sir Keir would “reverse all of the changes I’ve made” which would “cost everyone and you thousands of pounds”, seemingly ignoring the fact that taxes currently stand at the highest level since 1948.
The Labour leader hit back saying “this £2,000 he keeps saying it’s going to cost is absolute garbage.”
Sir Keir said: “This election is all about a choice. More of the chaos and division we’ve seen for the last 14 years or turning the page and rebuilding with Labour.
“I have ambition for our country. I have a practical plan to deliver it.”
But that hasn’t stopped at least four national newspapers splashing Sunak’s £2,000 tax claim on the front pages this morning.
Responding to the claim, Chris Morris, chief executive of Full Fact said: “It’s clearly unacceptable to present your own analysis as the conclusions of independent civil servants when it’s not.
“Public trust in politics is hanging by a thread and a high-profile falsehood will turn even more people away from the democratic process. We want to see this corrected as soon as possible.”
Many of the figures in the Conservative document come from government costings of opposition policies published earlier this year, but some of the figures come from other sources.
The Permanent Secretary for HM Treasury, James Bowler, confirmed in a letter to Labour’s Darren Jones that “civil servants were not involved in the production or presentation of the Conservative Party’s document ‘Labour’s Tax Rises’ or in the calculation of the total figure used.”
He went on to say “any costings derived from other sourced or produced by other organisation should not be presented as having been produced by the Civil Service”.
Full Fact will issue a full check of the £2,000 figure later today.
Related: Tories warned not to claim Civil Service behind their Labour tax attack