The IFS said the Conservative and Labour parties “don’t want to talk about the scale of the challenge they face”.
The final guest on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips was Paul JohnsonDirector of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
This week the IFS said there was a “conspiracy of silence” between Labour and the Conservatives over future tax and spending plans.
Mr Johnson responded by saying he did not want to talk about “the magnitude of the challenge facing” either party.
He said he doesn’t want to talk about raising taxes because it would “scare voters.”
But he said spending cuts were “unthinkable” given challenges in areas such as health care, defence and local government finances.
But both parties are committed to reducing debt.
In other words, they have to “get the money from somewhere,” which may require “some tax increases,” Trevor said.
“Maybe they’re just hoping for better luck,” Johnson said.
“Sometimes I think it makes more sense not to talk, but if there are plans then I think there are things they should tell us,” he added.
The IFS warned both the Conservative and Labour parties that their plans would force “significant” spending cuts and that neither were “serious about the fundamental principle of reducing debt”.
In assessing the election campaign, the IFS said it predicted whoever becomes chancellor in the autumn would be “lucky” to meet the fiscal rule to put debt on a declining trajectory between 2028/29 and 2029/30.
It’s a goal both Labour and the Conservative parties have pledged to but Mr Johnson described it as “bizarre”.
That’s all for this week’s episode of “Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.”
