Why do Tories keep repeating their £2,000 tax smear?

The prime minister’s claim that Labour would raise taxes by this enormous amount has been roundly disproven. But, as with the Leave campaign’s spurious claims, this lie has legs

Rishi Sunak’s claim that Labour would cost every family two grand was debunked almost as soon as it was out of his mouth. You could say it was undermined just by the panicky look in the prime minister’s eyes, but to be real, it is hard to say at the moment exactly what he’s panicking about. The civil service disavowed the figure, and factcheckers everywhere disputed it. Still, it kept coming: Penny Mordaunt, on fighty form, repeated it in Friday’s debate – not in the manner of an accident that slipped out of her mouth under the pressure of the studio lights, but as a bold and deliberate attack she’d planned in advance.

The weekend passed. Surely everyone, everywhere, knew by now that this wasn’t true? Nope, here’s Chris Philp saying it again to Nick Ferrari on LBC. He’s minister for policing, so you’d hope he’d be even more honest than the average minister. Just kidding.