Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has taken to the stage to defend the Tories’ record and bash “Labour’s tax rises“. In a negative campaign, Hunt warned that Labour were playing “playground politics” and are taking the public for fools over the cost of the pandemic – before drawing a line in the sand over numbers. If Guido were in the room, he would remind the Chancellor that it was the Tories who decided to shut down the economy whilst handing out the cash for two years…

Hunt hit out at Labour’s unfunded policies which, according to “independent official costings“, will cost a total of £59 billion over the next four years, with the gap between what they will spend and what they will raise from their announced tax rises standing at £38 billion, or £2,100 per working household. Guido asked Labour to send the costings over for Starmer’s “fully costed and funded” six pledges, announced yesterday, and received no comment. Tax-raising Hunt is on the attack – the pot and kettle will now argue over which is blacker…

Read Hunt’s “scorecard” below: