Byrne says he is “so sorry” for leaving “the note” in 2010

Liam Byrne, former chief secretary to the Treasury, has written an apology for leaving a note to his successor in 2010.

Byrne, who wrote an infamous letter which read ‘I’m afraid there’s no money left’, has written an apology in the Guardian, saying he was “so sorry” for leaving this note.

In an attempt to explain why he had made a decision to leave behind such a letter, Byrne has said that when it came to writing the note:

“Into my head came the phrase I’d used to negotiate all those massive savings with my colleagues: “I’m afraid there is no money.” I knew my successor’s job was tough. I guess I wanted to offer them a friendly word on their first day in one of government’s hardest jobs by honouring an old tradition that stretched back to Churchill in the 1930s and the Tory chancellor Reginald Maudling, who bounced down the steps of the Treasury in 1964 to tell Jim Callaghan: “Sorry to leave it in such a mess, old cock.”

Yet “the note” was not just stupid. It was offensive. That’s why it has made so many people so angry. And that why it was so wrong to write.”

The note was used by David Cameron and the Tories’ throughout the election campaign – they offered this as evidence that Labour couldn’t be trusted with the economy. Byrne recognised the damage this has done and said

“People’s anger – and my party’s anger – at me, will never ever match my anger with myself or my remorse at such a crass mistake. I made it easy for our opponents to bash our economic record by bashing me. And for millions of people and businesses who have had to make such sacrifices over the last five years, there was nothing funny about the national debt when the national task of cutting it has brought them such pain in their everyday life.”