Rishi Sunak denies he's a 'liar' following his tax claims about Labour

Speaking to ITV's Tonight programme, Rishi Sunak said he was not a liar and called Sir Keir Starmer's suggestion that he is 'pretty desperate stuff'

Rishi Sunak has denied Keir Starmer's accusation that the Prime Minister lied about Labour's tax plans, in an exclusive interview with ITV's Tonight programme.

Asked whether he was willing to lie in order to stay in power, Mr Sunak said "No."

He added that Keir Starmer's inference that the Prime Minister was a 'liar' was "pretty desperate stuff".

Mr Sunak said: "Keir Starmer and the Labour Party are obviously very rattled that we've exposed their plans to raise tax on people. And that's what it, that's what it demonstrates."

Pressed on whether the numbers were in fact based on assumptions drawn up by Conservative advisors, Mr Sunak said: "No. The analysis and the working is done by Treasury officials."

The full interview will run on a special episode of the ITV Tonight programme, The Leader Interviews: Rishi Sunak, which airs at 7pm on Wednesday June 12.

Labour has said it does not have plans to increase a working household's tax by £2,000.

The estimate from the Conservative party, which is based on spending commitments they say Labour has made up to until 2028-2029 would allegedly leave a Labour government with a £58.9 billion bill.

Over the same time period, the Conservatives have said Labour plans to increase Treasury revenue would collect a sum amount of £20.4 billion over the next four years.

They have argued that will leave a £39.5 billion blackhole in public finances - one they claim will only be plugged with higher taxes for working households.

Labour has vehemently disputed the figures and has launched a fierce campaign on social media, claiming "the Tories are lying to you" and "Rishi Sunak lied to you... just like he did about Partygate".

After the Prime Minister repeated the claim several times during Tuesday's ITV debate, Sir Keir finally called the claim "absolute garbage" and clapped back: “What’s happened here is they put in pretend Labour policies to the Treasury and then they get a false readout.

“What they’ve put in for this analysis is a mental health policy that isn’t the Labour Party’s policy, he’s put in one of his own policies. He’s asked the civil service to cost it.

"They’ve come up with this figure of £2,000.”

Watch Rishi Sunak's interview in full on a special episode of the ITV Tonight programme, The Leader Interviews: Rishi Sunak, which airs at 7pm on Wednesday June 12.

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