Build 1.5 million homes. Bring back National Service. Give 16-year-olds the vote. Rejoin the Single Market. Freeze non-essential immigration. Net Zero by 2040. The main political parties have made plenty of promises before today's General Election. But there is one subject no politician wants to talk about.

The British economy is in trouble. For years, growth has been low or flat. This means the government is not getting any extra money from taxes. At the same time, spending on areas like health has risen due to inflation and increasing demand. So the government has to borrow to meet the gap, but the cost of borrowing has also gone up massively.¹

Hospitals, roads, buses, school buildings - they are all in need of investment. That is why many people think that "nothing works in Britain today".²

If a government needs more income, it can always raise taxes. But none of the political parties have made that promise during the election campaign. Why not?

The tax burden in Britain is at the highest level in 70 years.³ However, UK taxes are still lower than those in most European countries.⁴ And, whoever wins the election, they will have to find a way of raising more money.

Some people think the main parties are afraid to tell the truth. Politicians worry that voters will reject them if they are honest about the economy. They believe that this is why the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak accused Labour of secretly planning £2000 of tax rises for every family.

Paul Johnson, the director of the respected think tank the IFS, believes that both Labour and the Conservatives have "failed even to acknowledge some of the most important issues and choices to have faced us in a very long time".⁵

Others think the only priority during an election is to win power. Politicians cannot tell the whole truth until the campaign is over.

Labour leader Keir Starmer, as the favourite, has been accused of following a "Ming vase" strategy.⁶ In other words, Labour act like they are carrying a priceless vase across a room. Because they are desperate not to drop the vase, safety matters more than taking risks.

However, tax rises were not the only subject avoided during the build up to the election. Few politicians have spoken of the ongoing cost of Brexit, even though it was a major issue the last time the country voted.⁷ The ageing UK population, the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the climate crisis - both main parties have ignored these issues.

But ignoring major problems does not mean they go away, as the build up to the American election is showing. For months the Democrats claimed their candidate, Joe Biden, was young enough to be President. But he struggled in a debate against his opponent Donald Trump, and now the party is in crisis.

A political party has to focus during an election campaign. It needs a clear and simple message that it can sell on the doorstep. But if that message is a lie - or at least avoids telling the truth - how can that party be trusted?

Are politicians afraid of the truth?

Yes: Politicians are rarely honest with the public, whichever party they belong to. Social media and 24-hour news have only increased opportunities to lie.

No: An electoral campaign is about convincing people to vote for you. Politicians should not lie, but we cannot blame them for only repeating the facts that serve their argument.

Or... Campaigning for government and running a country are two different things. Plenty of subjects get ignored during an election, but are then tackled once a party is in power.