Ed Balls won’t match £8 billion pledge

Labour’s shadow chancellor was on Radio 4’s Today programme for an interview ahead of the manifesto launch in an hour.

He said was pushed on the Conservatives pledge to provide the £8 billion for the NHS. It is the figure NHS chief executive Simon Stevens has said that it needs.

However the “budget responsiblity lock” in their manifesto means that Labour can’t match it. Mr Balls said that the promise was meaningless because Mr Osborne was asked “18 times” to explain how it was funded and refused.

Sajid Javid has been on Sky news in an effort to knock down Labour’s economic crediblity arguing that the party have “made this promise about balancing the books time and time again.

However the culture secretary was followed the chancellor’s lead and was unable to say where the £8 billion in NHS funding will come from. He said that his part would “find the money”.

“An extra £7 billion a year now going into the NHS from where it was five years ago. That’s the kind of principle we are going to stick to and which will allow us to find the money, the extra £8 billion, by 2020.”

Am told that fiscal charter / responsibility front page was added to the Labour manifesto last Friday. Late overhaul, acc to some sources

— Allegra Stratton (@BBCAllegra) April 13, 2015