Post by Focus on Jun 24, 2013 21:41:52 GMT
It is the note which will haunt the Labour party for years to come – a stark admission that there was ‘no money left’ when they left office.
But on the eve of the latest round of spending cuts, the letter from former Treasury minister Liam Byrne has been pictured for the first time.
Consisting of just 18 words it offers no apology or justification for the state of the nation’s finances, only a glib ‘good luck’ to whoever was left to clear up the economic mess.
Damaging : Labour's Liam Byrne sent left this handwritten note to his successor before he left the Treasury in 2010
As he departed government with the rest of Gordon Brown’s ministers, Mr Byrne scrawled a quick note to his successor.
The letter, written in blue ink on government note paper, was opened by Lib Dem David Laws who became Chief Secretary to the Treasury when the coalition was formed.
Dated April 6 2010, it reads: 'Dear Chief Secretary. I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck. Liam.’
He mentioned its existence within days of taking office, claiming he assumed the envelope would offer advice on how to conduct himself in government.
But he refused to bow to calls from former Tory spin doctor Andy Coulson to release the actual letter publicly.
Regret : Labour's Liam Byrne has said he will wish he had never written the not for the rest of his life
As he made the letter public for the first time, Mr Laws claimed he had not deliberately intended for it to be made public three years ago.
'I didn’t know who it was from. It looked a bit odd. I really didn’t regard as a big thing,' he told ITV Westcountry.
'I only mentioned it almost by accident at a press conference that we held a few days into the government, not expecting – rather naively – the huge reaction that it got.
'Within minutes of mentioning it in front of a media audience, and without alerting the Chancellor of the Exchequer about its existence let alone that I was going to mention it, the whole story suddenly went stratospheric.
'I didn’t set out to embarrass Liam, but he left a note which frankly does sum up precisely the state of the Treasury when he left it which was completely empty of money.
'I think it is refreshing that a Labour politician has been prepared to admit that rather candidly.'
Money : Lib Dem David Laws revealed the existence of the note within days of becoming a Treasury minister, working with Tory Chancellor George Osborne
The decision to publish the note ahead of Wednesday’s Spending Review, setting out £11.5billion of additional cuts for 2015-16, will seriously sour relations with the Labour party.
The Lib Dems have hoped to reposition themselves as more economically competent than Labour, and the note’s release suggests they will use it to hammer home the message in the run up to the 2015 election.
Lib Dem business minister Jo Swinson said today that the letter was a 'stark reminder that Labour can't be trusted with the economy'.
Earlier this month Mr Byrne, now Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, admitted he will regret it for the rest of his life.
‘It was a very foolish thing to do,’ he told the House magazine.
‘I suppose I did think there was a convention amongst honourable members that private correspondence would stay private.
‘There's obviously a very old tradition of these notes that goes back to the 1930s. I felt disappointed that some very old conventions had been cast aside for political advantage.’
Mr Laws was forced to resign as Chief Secretary to the Treasury - essentially deputy to Chancellor George Osborne - after just 17 days in office after revelations about his expenses.
In September last year he returned to government as Schools Minister, with a roving brief across Whitehall.
What a shower of lying, sanctimonious, self important fcking cretins we have running this country!! - Fx
