Labour admit no money left..

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The former chief secretary to the Treasury, Liam Byrne, left a note in a desk stating, ''I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left,'' his successor has claimed.



Mr Byrne insisted the message was meant as a private joke

His pithy summary of the serious challenges facing the new power-sharing administration was revealed by Liberal Democrat David Laws, who has taken on the role.

Speaking at a press conference at the Treasury, he told reporters: ''When I arrived at my desk on the very first day as Chief Secretary, I found a letter from the previous chief secretary to give me some advice, I assumed, on how I conduct myself over the months ahead.



''Unfortunately, when I opened it, it was a one-sentence letter which simply said 'Dear Chief Secretary, I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left', which was honest but slightly less helpful advice than I had been expecting,''

Mr Byrne insisted the message was meant as a private joke.

"My letter was a joke, from one Chief Secretary to another," he said. "I do hope David Laws' sense of humour wasn't another casualty of the coalition deal."