Opposition policy costings ‘one of grubbiest’ Whitehall processes

Opposition policy costings are among the “grubbiest processes” in Whitehall, a former top mandarin has claimed.

Deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell has today clarified the figures are based in part on Treasury figures but are also taken from other sources, including a think tank. He added: “ to be honest are one of the grubbiest processes I’ve ever been involved in, and I hope to goodness that a future government will stop doing this because they’re done by both parties, right? Conservative and Labour have done them, I’ve done them – many of these during my career.“I hated every second working on these.”

She accused special advisers of making assumptions about policies which were already accounted for in current spending, in particular a live Government scheme to issue “golden hello” bonus payments to new dentists which Labour has previously supported, as part of its wider campaign for 700,000 new dentist appointments each year.

James Bowler, the most senior civil servant at the Treasury, has said civil servants were “not involved in the production or presentation of the Conservative Party’s document Labour’s Tax Rises in the calculation of the total figure used”.

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