The Tory party’s sums don’t add up

There is, to put it mildly, a lack of candour in this election campaign when it comes to tax rises and spending cuts. The Conservatives are trying to force Labour into a game of Whac-a-mole over which taxes it would put up and which rises the party is happy to rule out. Whoever is in power will have to find the money from somewhere, whether that’s through hiking tax or slashing spending. Neither party is being very open about that, though.

Perhaps the power is draining away so rapidly from the Tories that their own assertions about spending aren’t getting the scrutiny they deserve. If taxes aren’t going up massively, then spending has to be cut, and one of the policies Rishi Sunak and his colleagues are leaning heavily on is welfare cuts.