Election 2010: £30bn hole in party pledges - papers

Britain's three main political parties all have a £30bn hole in their manifestos that will have to be plugged with huge tax rises or spending cuts after the election, according to Financial Times calculations based on their policy pledges.

The scale of the budget gap amounts to a quarter of spending on the National Health Service, half the cost of basic state pension provision or tax increases for the average household of £1,100 a year. The potential tax rises would dwarf the £150 a year tax break for married couples proposed by the Conservatives. With all three manifestos published - and none of the parties setting out more than £10bn in concrete spending cuts - their tax and spending plans are likely to feature in Thursday night's first live television debate between the Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat leaders. See ...