General election live: Greens to call for tax hike on wealthy at manifesto launch

The 2024 Conservative manifesto released yesterday is a 76-page tome which has the desire and the instinct for tax cuts as its controlling thought.

But hang on: cuts in national insurance and stamp duty get the thumbs-up, but there is no equivalent on income tax or inheritance tax.

The argument goes that as sought after as these might be by many, they are less of a priority than the other two.

And there is a pattern here, as you can see when you look at the Tory promise on borders and security.

Rishi Sunak renews his commitment to the Conservative plan to send some of those arriving over the Channel on small boats to Rwanda.

But look what is not promised: the one thing some reckon would make it more likely this scheme and others like it would work — withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Instead, there is a rather fudgey formulation in the manifesto, on page 36.

It reads: “If we are forced to choose between our security and the jurisdiction of a foreign court, including the ECHR, we will always choose our security.”

In short this is a manifesto in Rishi Sunak’s image.