A note written by an outgoing minister to his successor admitting there was "no money" left has been seen for the first time.
On the eve of Wednesday's Spending Review, LibDem MP David Laws has publicly revealed the letter.
Liam Byrne wrote the note shortly before the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown fired the starting gun for the 2010 general election.
The letter, dated April 6, 2010, was opened by Mr Laws, the newly appointed Coalition chief secretary.
It read: "Dear chief secretary, I'm afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck! Liam."
Mr Laws first revealed the contents of the letter at a press conference with Chancellor George Osborne during his 17-day tenure as chief secretary. He has now shown the letter to ITV.
He said: "I didn't set out particularly 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."
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