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Voters are split over Rishi Sunak’s highly controversial claim in the TV debate with Sir Keir Starmer that Labour would put up taxes by £2,000 per person.
More than one in three (34 per cent) believe the prime minister was telling the truth, according to an exclusive poll for The Independent.
However, slightly more (38 per cent) say the claim was false while a total of 28 per cent said they did not know if it was true or false.
The survey, by Redfield and Wilton, appeared to suggest not only that voters believed the Labour leader more but even identified him on balance as the debate winner from Tuesday night.
A total of 38 per cent say he won the confrontation, while 32 per cent say Mr Sunak had the upper hand. The remaining 30 per cent said neither emerged as winner or declined to offer an opinion.
The poll follows a fierce row over Sunak’s £2,000 Labour tax hike allegation.
The Treasury chief mandarin disowned the figures and Sir Keir angrily claimed the prime minister had “lied.” The UK Statistics Authority is also investigating the Tories after the prime minister’s claim.
For a third consecutive day, the row exploded again with the Tories claiming that Labour plans 10 new tax rises and providing a link to the Treasury analysis on the costs of the opposition’s spending plans. Their attack was partly based on claims Labour would introduce a “retirement tax” by not matching their triple lock plus commitment of not taxing the state pension.
But Labour’s shadow chief Treasury secretary Darren Jones had already challenged the Tories to a debate on the £2,000 figure while Sir Keir had accused Mr Sunak of lying on the issue.
Responding today, Tory chief Treasury secretary Laura Trott said: “The prime minister warned this week that Keir Starmer would put up taxes on working families by £2,094 to fill Labour’s £38.5 billion black hole.
“After spending two days accusing others of lying and ordering his team to dodge questions from the media, the truth has now emerged: he is secretly preparing more than 10 new tax rises later this year. Keir Starmer has a long track record of breaking pledges.
“He thinks he can coast to victory with a blank cheque then pretend he has a mandate to raise taxes, raid pensions and impose a retirement tax. He now urgently needs to level with the British people about which taxes he wants to increase and by how much.”
Meanwhile, the Redfield and Wilton poll also found that Mr Sunak scores badly compares to Sir Keir and Nigel Farage.
When asked to choose between all three, Sir Keir easily topped for poll for standing up for the UK best, standing up for the little guy, strong leader, most charismatic, tells it like it is, knows how to get things done, represents change, has ambition, can build a strong economy, can fix the NHS, and can deal with immigration.
Mr Sunak did not top any categories while Mr Farage was first in stop the boats.
Redfield and Wilton interviewed 2,000 adults online on June 5-6.
