shadow chancellor interview on sky

Just watched Sky News whilst getting ready to do the taxi run taking my eldest to his Rugby Match. Alan Johnson, who is the Shadow chancellor, was talking about how Labour would not have put VAT up but National Insurance Contributions instead. So Dermont Murnaghan, who was the interviewer, asked what the current NI rate is and what they( Labour) would have put it up to. After going backwards and forward the Shadow Chancellor got it the NI figure wrong.

So hear is the issue, I guess Dermont was trying to make the point that the shadow chancellor , should know the basic figures when discussing an issue on finance. To be give the other side point Alan Johnson said that the rate that Labour would have put it up by would bring in so many millions and that was the figure he should know and not the individual rate.