THE government last night accused Labour of pursuing a “scorched earth policy” before the general election, leaving behind billions of pounds of previously hidden spending commitments.
The newly discovered Whitehall “black holes” could force even more severe public spending cuts, or higher tax rises, ministers fear.
Vince Cable, the business secretary, said: “I fear that a lot of bad news about the public finances has been hidden and stored up for the new government. The skeletons are starting to fall out of the cupboard.”
The new cabinet has been discovering previously unknown contracts and uncosted spending commitments left by their spendthrift predecessors.
“There are some worrying early signs that numbers left by the outgoing government may not add up,” said Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister.
David Willetts, the universities minister, claimed that Labour had left behind “not so much an in-tray as a minefield”.
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Updates:
2:03 pm EDT, May 16th, 2010 — Black: The Cameron-Clegg Challenge
2:04 pm EDT, May 16th, 2010 — Tories ditched policies as fast as they listed them
2:05 pm EDT, May 16th, 2010 — David Cameron fury at Labour’s ‘scorched earth’ debts