The spending plans of the big parties looks to be becoming a big battleground in the General Election.

The Lib Dems have a fully-costed plan that puts £700 in the pocket of most taxpayers.  Under the Lib Dems, your first £10,000 of income is tax free, and the party’s set out exactly how that gets paid for.

The Lib Dems have also identified billions of pounds of savings in public spending – to start bringing down the huge national debt run up under Labour.

The Conservatives won’t cut tax by nearly as much for people low and middle incomes  – but have been unable to say how they would fund those they’ve proposed.

As Nick Clegg will point out later today, the Conservatives have come up with a series of proposed tax cuts:

• Tax breaks for millionaires with a £2m exemption from inheritance tax.
• Tax breaks for married couples.
• A freeze in Council Tax
• Reducing the impact of Labour’s proposed rises in National Insurance.
• And another National Insurance tax break for small businesses.

Paying for all these tax promises would cost £13.5bn, Nick will say, and the Conservatives have identified just £100m of alternative tax revenue to pay for it, together with a series of vague and unconvincing statements about increased efficiency which David Cameron himself says are a trick.

It is time for the Conservatives to come clean about how they will pay for these tax cuts, without decimating schools, hospitals and police forces across the country.