The parties’ manifestos — or in the case of Reform UK their contract — are all out. The campaigns are entering the final straight. The finish line is, almost, in sight. But what do the manifestos really tell us about what the next government would spend on different public services? There are lots of numbers floating around but many are close to useless.
Let’s take the public service that, for the good reason of being the largest, often gets the most attention: the NHS. Here we can find several, apparently rather precisely costed, pledges in the offers from the two main parties. For example, the Conservative Party manifesto promises to spend £729 million on mental health services and the Labour Party manifesto promises to double