Labour’s ‘reckless’ spending plans would cost extra £1.2TRN, report reveals
LABOUR’S election promises will cost taxpayers an extra £1.2trillion, an explosive report reveals.
If it comes to power, the party’s splurge would more than double the debt of every family in the country.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell would have to boost spending by almost a third to meet his reckless commitments, the secret analysis reveals.
It means he would have to find an extra £650million a day for five years if he becomes Chancellor.
Last night, economics experts said the costings of the spending were “truly frightening” and risked bankrupting Britain.
And it is feared the bill will be even higher when Labour unveils its manifesto in the coming weeks.
The eye-watering cost of a Labour election victory is laid bare in a 35-page report that Mr McDonnell did not want you to see.
Plans by Treasury chiefs to publish their analysis were blocked by Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill last week. He stepped in after Mr McDonnell “hit the roof” when an official called to give him advance notice, it was claimed.
Labour claimed it would be an “abuse of power” to release the politically sensitive document ahead of a general election campaign.
But an unauthorised copy, obtained by The Sun on Sunday, exposes the real reason he was so keen to keep it under wraps.
It says that a Jeremy Corbyn victory will cost £1.2trillion over the next five years on top of what the government already spends.
The extra cash needed to fund the Labour leader’s election pledges would mean increasing government spending by 30 per cent.
That is three times more than ex-PM Gordon Brown splurged after the financial crash.
Chancellor Sajid Javid said tonight: “These are the numbers that Labour did not want you to see — they show the true cost of Corbyn.
“Now is the time for responsible investment, not reckless borrowing.
“We simply cannot afford a Jeremy Corbyn spending spree that would saddle our children with huge amounts of debt and undo all the hard work of the British people in recent years.”
The dossier reveals that Labour’s planned spending spree is almost double what they promised in the 2017 general election.
Its last manifesto would have cost £611billion to fulfil. Since then, the party has drawn up more than £590billion of extra spending pledges — enough to send debt spiralling and hit the pockets of hard-working taxpayers.
The extra £1.2trillion is equivalent to £62,827 for every household — easily enough to pay off everyone’s mortgage and credit card debt.
The average UK debt, including mortgages, is £58,540, according to the Money Charity.
The dossier costs every penny of Labour’s spending commitments, which amount to 12 times as much as the extra £100billion promised by the Tories.
Renationalising the railways, energy networks, water and postal services would cost £196billion, the report states.
Free bus travel promised for under-25s would set the Treasury back a further £7billion and a vow to fit energy-saving insulation and refurbishments in every home would cost a further £30billion.
The promise of a four-day working week comes with an £85billion price tag, the document states.
Piloting a “universal basic income” — a free-for-all handout to everyone including prisoners and the super-rich — would eat up £4.5billion.
Guaranteeing a job to all energy workers, such as those in the oil and gas industry, would cost £8.7billion, while setting up tenants’ unions across the country would need a further £20million.
£34k bet on Boris
A PUNTER has bet £34,000 on Boris Johnson to win the most seats.
Other wagers of £20,000 and £15,000 are backing the 1/6 shot. Betfair Exchange have Labour at 8/1 for most seats.
More than £5million has been bet on the election since it was called.
But with another hung Parliament likely, Betfair’s Katie Baylis said: “Friday 13th could be a true nightmare for all the main leaders.”
The Chancellor branded Labour’s blueprint “fantasy economics” and said it was “totally unsustainable”.
Mr Javid added: “Every time Labour get into power they spend beyond their means, leaving our country on the brink of bankruptcy.
“But Corbyn’s Labour is planning to embark on a record — and truly frightening — spending splurge. We are all still paying the price for the debt that the last Labour Government racked up but this would be three times worse.
“Corbyn’s plans are the equivalent of scrapping all funding for the NHS for the next nine years and the British people will be expected to pay for it.
“A vote for Corbyn’s Labour would mean frightening levels of debt that would take us decades to pay off. We simply cannot afford the cost of Corbyn.”
Senior economists were swift to warn of the serious risks of such a massive spending increase.
A Treasury source likened it to the “irresponsible” spending of militant council boss Derek Hatton, who nearly sent the city of Liverpool broke in the 1980s.
The source said: “The public have a right to know about this. The figures are insane.
“It’s nothing short of profligate splashing of taxpayers’ cash into a seemingly bottomless pit — on a much grander scale than the one which nearly brought Liverpool to its knees.”
From socialists to Tory curious
NAVY vets Scott and Charleine Wain, above, have supported Labour for a decade but this year they are unsure.
They fear anti-Semitism, business taxes and its lack of Brexit clarity.
Charleine, 35, now a hair salon boss, said: “I always believed Labour was for the working class. But I want someone who’ll support small business owners.”
Scott, 40, runs a Plymouth photography firm. He said: “I was shocked by Labour anti-Semitism allegations. We don’t want to be taxed to the hilt. Boris is doing the best he can.”
Shadow Treasury Secretary Peter Dowd said last week: “The British people will pay for this as part of our investment package.
“It will be money that we borrow and we will seek to invest that amount of money and the return as a result of a growing economy, more sustainable economy, will ultimately pay for that.”
Professor Len Shackleton, research fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, called it Labour’s Christmas wish list.
He added: “Schemes for massively increasing infrastructure spending and greening the entire housing stock in a short period of time will be hugely expensive and almost certainly impractical.
“Delays to Crossrail and ongoing problems with HS2 show us that large-scale government projects rarely run without problems. Renationalising major industries will do little to improve their performance and will again cost a packet.
“Labour needs to come out of Santa’s grotto and get real.”
Paul Johnson, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said Mr McDonnell’s plan would more than double spending on public investment, sending it back to 1970s levels.
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He added that the level of investment is so high it would be “just physically impossible to get there that quickly”.
Matt Kilcoyne, of the Adam Smith Institute, warned: “John McDonnell could bankrupt Britain. His decision to throw away all fiscal discipline underlines the threat he poses to all families.
“That doesn’t even include the cost of Labour’s massive renationalisation programme.”
The Sun On Sunday Says
SO now we know the true cost of Labour.
The eye-watering bill for Jeremy Corbyn’s reckless electoral promises is an astonishing £1.2TRILLION.
And don’t forget that scarcely imaginable figure is ON TOP of what the Government already spends.
It’s not surprising that deceitful Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell “hit the roof’’ when he found out these figures were about to made public last week.
He demanded Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill block their publication. That’s right, Labour don’t want you the voters to know the sheer tsunami of debt they plan to inflict on you.
It amounts to a splurge of £650m extra EVERY DAY for five years. If each household in the country had to pay their share it would cost them £62,827 and more than double the average mortgage and credit card debt.
Labour say they will sting the rich to pay for it, but wealth and job- creating billionaires won’t hang about. They will exit in droves, leaving our economy in tatters.
The respected Adam Smith Institute says this spending spree is a threat to every family and risks bankrupting Britain.
It would leave us in the same state as Corbyn’s favourite tin-pot countries such as Venezuela and lumber Brits with a massive bill for generations to come.
Now that voters know the truth they must not allow profligate Labour to turn on the money taps and just let them keep running.
This country is at last emerging from austerity.
Don’t let Corbyn plunge us back into it.
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