IFS: Electorate 'left in the dark' by political parties

Our plan is a continuation of what we have done over the last five years, when we have turned the country around, got the deficit down, put the country back to work and are seeing a successful economy.

I accept the analysis of the IFS that the SNP's proposal will result in more borrowing than is proposed by the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties on the proposition that we've put forward of increasing public spending by half a percent in real terms.

I accept that because that's what the public are calling out for. They're fed up with austerity and they want a clear voice to say austerity has got to come to an end and the investment in our public services and our public infrastructure has got to recommence.

The IFS could not be clearer - when it comes to the economy the Liberal Democrats are the most transparent and are the party that will end austerity the earliest.

By contrast, the IFS lift the lid on Tory plans to cut public spending to the bone and accuse them of burying details of their the plans to shrink the state.

They also shine a light on the sheer scale of Labour’s deficit denial, which includes yet unspecified levels of borrowing, despite starving the NHS of the cash it needs.

It's now official. Only the Liberal Democrats can be trusted to build a stronger economy and fairer society, and create opportunity for all.

The IFS’ numbers wrongly assume that Labour will get the current budget only into balance. Our manifesto pledge is to get the current budget not only into balance but into surplus as soon as possible in the next Parliament. How big that surplus will be, and how quickly we can achieve that in the next Parliament, will depend on what happens to wages and the economy.

The Tories might be able to make the cuts but the last five years show they will fail to cut the deficit as they claim. They have borrowed £200 billion more than they planned because their

There are genuinely big differences between the main parties' fiscal plans.

The electorate has a real choice, although it can at best see only the broad outlines of that choice.

Conservative plans involve a significantly larger reduction in borrowing and debt than Labour plans.

But they are predicated on substantial and almost entirely unspecified spending cuts and tax increases.

While Labour has been considerably less clear about its overall fiscal ambition, its stated position appears to be consistent with little in the way of further spending cuts after this year.