'Even the Spectator is accusing Sunak of lying'
Rishi Sunak has been dealt a humiliating blow in the taxes row as the Spectator has claimed that, based on the Prime Minister’s own maths, the Tories would raise taxes by £3,000 per household.
The Tories have had their own calculations used against them, as the conservative leaning paper ran the figures based on the Tories’ published tax plans and found that the tax rise would be significantly more than the attack line Sunak is aiming at Keir Starmer.
Rishi Sunak claimed Labour policies would lead to a tax rise of £2,000 per family, based on an estimate produced by the Tory Party. He repeatedly peddled this line during the first leaders debate on Tuesday evening, a claim that Labour has blasted as a lie. Using the method that Tory special advisers applied to come up with this figure, the Spectator said it would equate to a tax rise of £3,020 per working household by the Tories.
The editor of the Spectator, Fraser Nelson, has said: “There are serious issues at stake in this general election, and the Tories have just released nonsense figures with fake attribution and given it to newspapers who took it on trust. I’m really not sure that this will help their chances very much.”
Political Commentator Patrick O’Flynn said on X: “Absolute spanking for Sunak from Spectator editor Fraser Nelson here. The Tory campaign in this election has been worse than dire – just a series of fantasy claims based on the knowledge that they won’t win but designed to shore up what remains of their core vote.”
Chris Bryant, Labour MP responded to the findings on X: “Even the Spectator is accusing Sunak of lying.”
Another X user wrote: “Probably not a great feeling if you’re a Tory who’s lost The Spectator.”
While another wrote: “Ouch”.
Image credit: Simon Walker / Number 10 Downing Street – Creative Commons
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