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John McDonnell was ridiculed today when he repeatedly failed to put a figure on Labour’s borrowing plans, saying “that’s why we have iPads”.

In a live interview, the shadow chancellor refused seven times to answer the question of how much Labour’s spending would increase the nation’s debt.

It came just 24 hours after he was skewered on live TV for not knowing the current cost of servicing the country’s debt.

He also became irritable in a third interview today, repeatedly dodging a question about how much Labour is willing to pay the European Union in a Brexit divorce bill.

The shambolic performance by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s closest ally came as he made a tour of media studios to criticise Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Autumn Budget and faced questions about what his party would do instead.

During a tetchy interview on the BBC’s Today show, Mr McDonnell accused senior broadcaster Mishal Husain of being “trite” and repeatedly declined her request for a specific figure for the higher costs of servicing Labour’s planned borrowing.

He replied: “The type of journalism where you go into an interview and someone asks a question on a particular figure to be honest is a trite form of journalism.

“That’s why we have iPads and that’s why we have advisers et cetera.

“So let’s get back to the reality of this. What I’ve been saying consistently about this Budget… if the Government stop the tax cuts to the corporations and the rich, they would have been able to invest in our public services.”

The cost of servicing the country’s debt is £48 billion a year. Asked a second time what Labour’s figure would be, Mr McDonnell said the cost would be minimal because interest rates are low.

Ms Husain pressed: “We all know you’d borrow to invest. The question that I’ve asked you a couple of times now is how much would it add to the servicing costs in a year?

Mr McDonnell replied: “It’s minimal because interest rates are so minimal. We’re literally talking [about] paying for itself.”

Asked again if he was talking about a minimal increase, he replied: “No we’re talking about it paying for itself. A one-to-one multiplier. That’s the standard analysis by the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] and others.”

He said Labour could cover the cost of servicing debt with its investment plans, because this “puts more people into work” and therefore more people would be paying tax.

In an interview with Sky News, Mr McDonnell became irritated when he was repeatedly asked how much Labour would be willing to pay in a divorce bill to the EU.

He said he could not give an answer “because the Government itself won’t be open and transparent about what our liabilities are”. Pressed for a ballpark figure, he snapped back: “You’re not listening to me, are you?”

Steve Barclay, economic secretary to the Treasury, said: “Labour refuse to come clean on how much taxpayers would have to pay for their borrowing binge.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said: “It’s worrying that the shadow chancellor hasn’t done his sums.

"Or perhaps he has done his sums and he realises they’re so horrendous that he’s unwilling to acknowledge that his version of a Labour government would put the country into financial difficulties.”

A spokesperson for John McDonnell said: “John was very clear that the investment programme Labour has called for would be more than affordable, with the interest costs from our National Transformation Fund more than covered by the returns on growth, as any economist would understand.

“During the General Election Labour set out our fully costed manifesto underpinned by our Fiscal Credibility Rule and the Institute for Fiscal Studies confirmed that we would meet the targets set out under our framework."