Tories lay into Jeremy Corbyn with ‘tax bombshell’ advert : The Guardian

Party launches personal attack that criticises opposition leader’s tax policy and pacifist views, but Labour responded that the move was ‘desperate’

The Conservatives have launched a personal attack on Jeremy Corbyn by pasting his picture over an image of a bomb with the slogan: “No bombs for our army, one big bombshell for your family.”

The image of the bomb behind the Labour leader’s head is stamped with the words: “More debt, higher tax.”

In text accompanying the poster Theresa May’s party claimed there was a £45bn gap between Labour’s spending plans and the revenue it would raise. But Labour hit back by saying the advert was “yet more nonsense” and dismissing it as “desperate”.

The Conservatives accompanied the advert with words from David Davis, the secretary of state for Brexit.

He said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s nonsensical and irresponsible ideas pose a grave risk to the future of Britain’s economy and the finances of every family in the country.”

A Labour spokesman said the Tories were trying to distract from the fact that May has not ruled out tax increases.

“Their false claims about Labour’s plans in this campaign haven’t been worth the paper they’ve been printed on,” he said. “They’ve fallen apart before the ink has dried on their latest press release. This will no doubt be no different with more claims that can’t be backed up and misrepresentations of the truth.

“Labour’s policies are fully costed and properly paid for. Our plans will be set out in our manifesto. Don’t trust the Tories: they are the party of the few, not the many.”

Although the focus of the advert’s words is economic, the bomb is likely to have been included as a way of reminding people of Corbyn’s pacifist views. The Conservatives have attacked him on national security after he said he would not press the nuclear button first and over his long-held belief in nuclear disarmament.

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