Ed Miliband flustered over VAT plans

Ed Miliband came under attack on Monday from right and left when he refused eight times to say whether borrowing would rise in the short term owing to his plans to revive the economy. Miliband repeatedly insisted in the sometimes bad-tempered exchanges on the BBC's World at One that borrowing would come down in the medium term because of his five-point plan, including a VAT cut.

He was unable to say how he would fund the VAT cut, deemed to cost £12.5bn in lost revenues. Under pressure, he accepted that the cut would probably last a year, but that would depend on the state of the economy at the time.

In the past, albeit under pressure, shadow chancellor Ed Balls has admitted that his five-point stimulus would require higher borrowing in the short term, so it was not clear why Miliband refused to make the same admission.

Miliband said: "The whole point about a VAT cut is that it would get growth moving, and if you get growth moving, you get more tax revenue in."

The Conservative chairman, Grant Shapps, said: "Miliband is too weak to admit what his shadow chancellor Ed Balls has already said – that Labour's plans mean more spending, more borrowing and more debt, exactly how Labour got us into this mess in the first place."

The New Statesman, the leftwing magazine, was also critical, writing: "Miliband can just about get away with an answer as evasive as the one he supplied. But in an election debate with David Cameron, he will not be able to dodge the question of whether Labour would borrow more in the short term. In which case, Miliband and Ed Balls should prepare a convincing answer now."