A political dispute has erupted less than an hour before PMQs over the cost of Labour's plan to insulate millions of homes within a decade. The government's published estimate claims the plan would cost £12bn to £15bn per year, in contrast to Labour's projection of £6bn annually. Accusations have surfaced of the Tories using official resources to produce a 'bogus' attack dossier on Labour's proposal. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, speaking to Political Editor @Peston, conceded that the Treasury's claim of Labour's insulation plan costing £13bn might be inflated due to flawed assumptions by his aides.
🚨 NEW: The Chancellor admits possible errors in the government's £12-15bn calculation of Labour's energy plans - double Labour's estimate - due to flawed assumptions by his own aides [@itvnews]
Jeremy Hunt admits to Political Editor @Peston Treasury's costing of Labour energy efficiency plans may be wrong | ITV News https://t.co/e7S4nEGM9B
Row erupts over cost of Labour's home insulation plan https://t.co/AGRpPEStiG
Hunt accepts that Tory/Treasury claim about Labour's insulation plan costing £13bn might not be realistic - https://t.co/znZjnP7UUt
Tories force officials to draw up 'bogus' attack dossier on Labour home insulation plan https://t.co/GCJNnZomVt
Labour's pledge to insulate millions of homes in a decade will cost at least double what the party previously claimed, according to government analysis - but Labour says the maths uses "bogus assumptions". 🔗 Read more https://t.co/C4y7wffluY
The Tories are claiming they've found another black hole in Labour's spending plans - this time its home insulation scheme. Are they right? (Short version: basically, yes. But there's a much, much bigger one...) (1/?) https://t.co/OqwWfs0Dic
The Treasury has just published estimates of Labour's warm home plans. Assumption is it will cost £12bn-£15bn per year. It's gonna spark a row about the Tories using official government channels to essentially attack Labour. https://t.co/iHZGQ1TPA5
Well this is going to cause a row less than an hour before PMQs. The Government - not CCHQ - have just published costings for housing insulation scheme.... Labour say it would cost £6bn per year... this says actually £12bn - £15bn. Cue fireworks