Mental arithmetic

ITV producers tried to turn the first big leaders' debate of this campaign into a game show last night, and headgirl Julie Etchingham was strict but a little unfair. Rishi Sunak yapped round Keir Starmer's ankles with his £2,000 tax rise claim - a direct inheritor of the Brexit "£350m a week" nonsense.  For no apparent reason, Sir Keir decided to wait for later rounds to declare the claim 'garbage'.  He's not great on figures - was he waiting for an ad break to consult on his response ?

I haven't reviewed the whole tape, but Julie rather allowed Sunak's dodgy ring technique, ending each 45 seconds with a challenge to Starmer, saying "Answer him directly please". 

Today it's clear the memorable claim, used by Rishi as "signed off by the Treasury" despite clear and timely advice to the contrary, is a tax rise of £500 per working household per year; try comparing that with the Sunak freezing of personal allowances in 2021, which has brought 3.2m into paying income tax for the first time. If the allowance had been allowed to rise in line with inflation, it would have moved from £12750 to £15255 this year; at the basic rate of 20%, it means every individual on the tax man's list is paying £500 more this year thanks to Rishi.