Tory win will cost every family £1,439

Balls stated the Conservatives were making 'panicky promises'. Picture: John Devlin

The shadow chancellor said the Conservatives’ “panicky promises”, such as raising annual NHS funding by £8 billion by 2020 and spending £6.5bn to raise the income tax theshold to £12,500, would leave people out of pocket.

Labour has carried out an “audit” of Tory policies which also shows that plans to allow workers to take three days’ annual leave for paid volunteering would cost £1.2bn, and raising the threshold of higher-rate tax to £50,000 would cost £3.9bn.

In a reversal of traditional roles, as each party sought to break the poll deadlock, Labour made a virtue of including “fully funded” pledges in its manifesto while the Tories planned giveaways for working families.

Mr Balls said: “Everyone knows it will be working families who end up paying the price again if the Tories win the election. The Tories have now racked up £25bn a year of promises which they refuse to explain how they will pay for – £25bn is the equivalent of £1,439 a year for every working household in Britain.

“That’s the price working families will pay under the Tories for panicky promises made in the middle of a desperate Tory campaign.”

Mr Balls’ attack came as Prime Minister David Cameron condemned him for describing the infamous “There is no money left” note left in the Treasury by Labour former minister Liam Byrne as a “joke”.

Mr Cameron said: “The note that was left was correct. It said there was no money left and let’s think about the consequences of that. Think about the consequences of what we inherited and what we had to do.

“We had to make difficult decisions, we had to find efficiencies in government spending, we had to put up some taxes, we had to make some very, very difficult decisions to get this country back on track because that note that said, ‘No money left’.

“So Ed Balls saying this is some kind of a joke, I think, is frankly the most appalling thing I have heard in this election campaign so far.

“I’m not surprised – he was Ed Miliband’s third choice to be his shadow chancellor.”

Tory win will cost every family £1,439 - Ed Balls