�Quick Guide:�Tax and spending
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Economy

Budget gap

Tax rises

Spending cuts

Cutting waste

Council tax

Spending cuts

Labour has claimed that the Tories will cut public spending by �35bn, leading to big cutbacks in front-line services.

In fact the Tories plan to increase spending by 2% each year, compared to Labour plans to increase it by 3%.

And the Conservatives have pledged to maintain spending on health and education, and spend more on defence, pensions, and the police.

Labour spending plans after 2007/8 are not known, but the rate of growth of public spending is expected to slow.