Sunak and Starmer clash in first head-to-head debate

LONDON — Taxes emerged as a key battleground in the first live televised debate of the U.K. election race on Tuesday evening, as party leaders addressed public concern over the cost-of-living crisis.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, leader of the incumbent Conservative Party which is trailing in the polls, said the opposition Labour Party’s policies would amount to a £2,000 ($2,553.73) tax rise for “every working family.”

Starmer initially brushed off the claim after it was repeated several times by the prime minister, before saying it was “based on made-up Labour policies” and “garbage.”

Discussion of the figure continued on Wednesday morning, as Conservative politician and Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho told the BBC’s “Today” program that the figure referred to costs over the whole of the next parliament rather than annually, which was not specified by Sunak.

The BBC meanwhile reported that a chief official in the U.K.’s independent civil service, which works for the government of the day, had written to Labour two days ago saying the Conservatives should not present the claim as being produced by the civil service.

During the debate, Sunak said the figure was calculated by “independent Treasury officials.”

Labour candidate Pat McFadden said Wednesday it showed the claim was “categorically untrue.”

The Conservatives told the BBC in a statement that use of the £2,000 figure was “fair” and that Labour needed to explain which policies would not apply in the costing.

He repeated a new Conservative pledge to raise the U.K.’s tax-free pension allowance through a “triple lock plus” program.

Starmer said that his party would only offer “fully costed” policies, and would raise funds by changing carried interest tax rules on private equity, fulfilling the closure of the so-called “non-dom” tax regime, ending tax breaks on independent schools and increasing the windfall tax on oil and gas companies.

During the debate, Starmer accused the Conservatives of damaging public finances during the 2022 premiership of Liz Truss, who lasted just 45 days as prime minister before resigning after a series of shock fiscal announcements jolted financial markets and threatened to destabilize British pension funds.

He also said the Conservatives had overseen a rise in taxes to a 70-year high.

When asked by debate moderator Julie Etchingham of ITV News, both leaders said they would not raise income tax or national insurance — a general taxation — during the next parliament.

Sunak surprised politicians and the public alike late last month when he called an election for July 4. Most had expected a vote to take place later in the year.

The parties have since launched into campaign mode, along with smaller rivals including the Greens, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party and the Reform Party.

While official manifestos are not yet out, the Conservatives have pledged to introduce national service for school leavers, push ahead with their controversial plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, and raise the existing tax-free pension allowance.

Labour’s commitments include the establishment of a new publicly-owned British energy company, bringing train operators under public ownership and increasing the minimum wage.

Both parties have pledged to cut long patient wait times for the U.K.’s struggling National Health Service.

Under Starmer and his shadow finance minister, Rachel Reeves, Labour has courted the business vote and undergone a significant shift toward the political center. That has caused controversy among some of its supporters, with the leadership accused of excluding political candidates on the left wing of the party.

A Labour win would mark its first parliamentary majority in 14 years.

Polls have for some time been pointing toward a Labour victory in a general election after the Conservatives’ ratings tanked following a series of scandals under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s tenure.

The party has failed to gain traction with the public since Johnson’s resignation in July 2022.

Following Truss’s short time in office, Sunak has since overseen a period of relative political stability, but polls still suggest a high dissatisfaction with his premiership.