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

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 ...