Tory Manifesto offers a blank cheque for Britain – John McDonnell

Now the
Tories have published their manifesto in full we can see how a party that
has added £700 billion to the national debt since 2010 really approaches the
public finances.

Today they
have produced an 84 page document in which they made 60 spending commitments
but provide costings for only one, just a day after Philip Hammond revealed he
had no idea how much High Speed 2 will cost.

This
contrasts with Labour’s fully-costed manifesto, published on Tuesday that
identified funding covering all spending commitments.

Commenting,
John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, said:

“The Tories’ numbers don’t add up. They have published an
84 page blank cheque that provides a tax giveaway guarantee for big business,
while offering a roll of the dice for working families with no commitments to
rule out rises in income tax and National Insurance.

“Now we can
see why Theresa May is running scared of debating Jeremy Corbyn, when she
publishes a document like this that contains more questions than answers. It
also further shows how her party has managed to add £700 billion to the
national debt since 2010, as they won’t be straight with the British people on
how much their plans for a wealthy few truly cost.

“One of the few revenue
raisers they identified was withdrawing free school meals from children and
withdrawing support for pensioners struggling to heat their homes – this just
sums up the Tory approach.

“This is the
equivalent of the Prime Minister going
to the shops with the nation’s cheque book and not
checking the price of the goods as she puts them in the trolley.

“All we know if the
Tories are returned next month is that if you’re a pensioner you face the
penalty of losing your winter fuel payments, control of your home, and the value of your pension.

“Today has
revealed that only the Labour Party at this election will stand up for
pensioners, and the 95 percent of taxpayers to build an economy for the many
not the few.”