"As chairman of the commission, I want to see where the parties are placing their bets. Right now, there is not a lot of visibility. I want to understand what the implications might be for poverty and the prospects for social mobility," Alan Milburn told The Independent newspaper in an interview.
The comments came after David Cameron, UK Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party, claimed Labour would increase taxes by 3,000 pounds ($4,434) to pay more for welfare. According to The Independent, the highly-respected Institute for Fiscal Studies dismissed that claim.
Milburn accused both parties of "political expediency," as well of being stuck in their "comfort zones," and urged them to come clean.
On Monday, the United Kingdom general election season kicked off, the parliament was dissolved and parties formally launched their campaigns.
The UK general election is scheduled for May 7, 2015. British citizens will elect representatives to sit in the House of Commons, the country's lower house of parliament, for terms that will last five years.
On Sunday, a YouGov poll showed that 36 percent of voters polled back Labour and 32 percent of the poll respondents support the Conservative Tories.
