I.F.S. Express

It seems that it's now part of the British constitution that all election manifesto launches should be accompanied by the comments of the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. So I thought I'd look back I'd look back at how the IFS has greeted previous manifestos, to see if there are any lines of continuity:

'"We've had thirteen years of people at the top getting preferential treatment," said [John] Smith. "We are starting to speak up for the ordinary taxpayer and the average family." Labour believes that the endorsement of its arithmetic by the Institute for Fiscal Studies makes it "game, set and match".' - Sunday Times 22 March 1992

'[The IFS document] will criticise Gordon Brown's pledge to stick to the existing government spending totals for the first two years of a Labour government. Andrew Dilnot, the IFS's director, has made no secret of his view that the sharp slowdown in real-terms spending implied by the existing plans will be catastrophic for the provision of some public services.' - Independent 9 April 1997

'Howard Reed of the IFS said there was a limit to what to what could be saved [under a Conservative government] without having to make cuts in "real" services on the ground. If there were easy ways to save money without such cuts then other parties would be doing so too, he added.' - Daily Telegraph 16 May 2001

'Robert Chote of the Institute for Fiscal Studies said: "Will taxes have to go up if the Tories win? No, as long as they can deliver the spending cuts they have promised. Will taxes have to go up if Labour wins? Yes, if we are right that revenues will be weaker than the Treasury hopes and if Gordon Brown sticks to his Budget goals for the public finances."' - Evening Standard 7 April 2005

'The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies said the manifesto gave no certainty on the size and combination of tax rises and spending cuts envisaged to meet Labour's pledge to halve Britain's £167 billion deficit within four years. "The party listed plenty of new things it would like to do, but was no clearer about where the spending cuts will fall," said the IFS. "It listed a few tax increases that it promised not to implement, but left the door wide open to many others."' - Independent 13 April 2010