Five ‘serious errors’ in Conservative manifesto, according to Labour

Rachel Reeves outlines five 'serious errors' in the Tory manifestoPA

Transcript

00:00Today, I want to address directly the costs of the Conservative Party manifesto.

00:05The money is not there.

00:07First, they have spent much of the first three weeks of this campaign pushing their national

00:11service proposal, but their costings for their plan omit the costs of equipment, accommodation

00:19or training of the 30,000 new military recruits.

00:24On any reasonable assessment, that plan will cost double their costings.

00:29Second, the Tories claim that their crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion would raise £6bn.

00:36But the truth is, despite trying to mimic Labour's plans, they have failed to account

00:41for the near £900m of investment needed to meet their pledge.

00:46Third, the Tories claim that they can make more than £1bn of efficiency savings from

00:51government agencies, but the truth is they have provided absolutely no detail whatsoever.

00:57This is not a credible plan.

01:00Fourth, the Tories claim that they can raise £1bn from scrapping poor-performing university

01:05courses, but the truth is, because they have no plan to cap the number of student places,

01:11that falls apart if students simply choose to study a different course.

01:16And fifth, the Tories claim that they can make £12bn in savings in welfare, but the

01:22truth is that claim is simply not credible.

01:25It is true that under the Conservatives, the welfare bill has spiralled.

01:30Since 2019, spending on benefits to support disabled people and those with health conditions

01:35has risen in real terms by £20bn.

01:39And under Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, the taxpayer has been losing £1bn every single

01:44hour to benefit fraud and error.

01:47That is their record.

01:49And there are savings to be made.

01:51But the idea that the Conservatives' proposals can save £12bn is pure fiction.