The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, says Labour is "coming after your pay packet". Writing in the Express on 27 October, the eve of the Budget, she argues that painful tax rises are now inevitable because Andy Burnham and the Chancellor, John Healey, have 'bottled' welfare cuts.
Her case is that welfare reform, not higher taxes, should pay for defence. She says the Chancellor could find defence money now rather than at 'the delayed spending review'.
This is a political argument rather than a costed plan. The extract of her piece relayed by Brit Brief gives no figure for how much welfare reform would save or how much defence spending it would fund, so her claim cannot be tested against the record.
John Healey delivers the Budget to the Commons later today.