chris mason has broken down the highlights of the debate. is tonight the night you can turn things around, prime minister? the big question for rishi sunak. the polls aren t budging. could this be the moment for a game changer? and here s the guy who wants hisjob. is tonight the night you seal the deal? pleasantries, smiles and you can bet for both of them a bag of nerves. the debate under way, and the biggest topic of our time, the cost of living, set out by paula from huddersfield in the studio audience. my savings are gone and i m genuinely. worried about my future. i don t think you understand . how this is for people like me. so what can you do about that? both men expressed sympathy, and then the argument began. of course i know everyone is onlyjust starting to feel the benefits of it, but inflation is back to normal, wages are growing, taxes are now being cut. keir starmer would put all that progress at risk. he would put up everyone s taxes by £2,000. keir starme
independent treasury officials have costed labour s policies and they amount to a £2000 tax rights for working family. it looks like now the chief treasury civil servant actually wrote to labour at two days ago saying the conservative assessment of their tax plan should not be presented as having been produced by the civil service. the debate sought the labour leader sir keir starmer challenged over hospital waiting lists among other things. with a rant out of the highlights from that debate, this is our political correspondent ian watson. the first debate of the campaign was a head to head clash between the prime minister and the man who wanted to replace him. if you re still wondering about the key messages they want to hammer home at this election, wonder no longer. this election is all about a choice more of the chaos and division we ve seen for the last 14 years, or turning the page and rebuilding with labour. no one knows what labour would actually do. but you know
are representing, our politicians don t deserve to be treated like that. it is dangerous. doesn t matter what the substance is, it is the thought of what it might be. i agree, beat him through argument, not foolish agree, beat him through argument, not foolish tactics. not foolish tactics. what are we exectinu not foolish tactics. what are we expecting over not foolish tactics. what are we expecting over the not foolish tactics. what are we expecting over the coming - not foolish tactics. what are we i expecting over the coming weeks? labour have got to stiffen up and show labour have got to stiffen up and show some clear messaging about what they will show some clear messaging about what they will actually do. they have to stay on they will actually do. they have to stay on this stance that the fiscal policy stay on this stance that the fiscal policy won t change. they must come up policy won t change. they must come up with policy won t change. they must come up
debate, some of which stacked up more than others. the bbc s team of fact checkers spent the night analysing them to put it all in a bit more context. first up, tax. here s a reminder of what was said. keir starmer would put all that progress at risk. he would put up everyone s taxes by £2,000. £2,000 in higher taxes for every working family in our country. he s the british expert on tax rises they re at the highest level for 70 years. let s start with that claim taxes would go up by £2,000 for every working family under labour. that is based on a dossier from the conservative party, which claims there s a £38 billion black hole in labour s spending plans over four years. but this is important some of the assumptions behind the calculations are from politically appointed special advisers in the treasury. some of them are questionable. it assumes, for example, that it s always a lot less