The Tories have been humiliatingly community noted on X after wrongly claiming to be cutting taxes.
The party made the claim the day after Jeremy Hunt announced he was reducing national insurance by another 2p.
However, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has pointed out that the overall tax burden is still on course to hit a post-war high by 2028/29.
Nevertheless, the Conservatives’ official X account still posted a graphic claiming: “We’re cutting your taxes ... again. That means the average worker on £35k will save £900 this year.”
The accompanying message said: “This is what happens when you stick with the plan that’s working.”
But the community note below it pointed out: “This is misleading, as under the Conservatives the UK tax burden is currently at a record high.”
The slapdown came as Tory plans to scrap national insurance entirely became mired in confusion.
Hunt - who has reduced the charge from 12p to 8p in the pound since November - hinted that it could be abolished entirely if the Conservatives are re-elected.
Treasury minister Bim Afolami confirmed the plan on LBC last night, but the chancellor appeared to row back on the commitment this morning.
Labour has challenged the Tories to explain how they would pay for the policy, which they said would cost £46 billion a year.
In a letter to Rishi Sunak, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, said: “Your predecessor’s disastrous mini-budget included £45 billion in unfunded tax cuts, crashing the economy and sending mortgage rates soaring for millions of households.
“Just like Liz Truss, you have so far refused to set out how you are going to pay for this latest shake of the magic money tree.”
He added: “You must immediately set out how you will pay for this policy. Will working people see further tax rises or will public services be cut?”