Today (19 March 2025), the Conservatives used their Opposition Day Debate in Parliament to make excuses about the multi-billion-pound black hole in the public finances their Government left behind.

The Tory Shadow Minister – who previously served as Liz Truss’ Chief Treasury Secretary – used his speech to describe the black hole as “mythical”.

Luke Myer MP challenged him on this, reading directly from the report from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) which confirmed that the previous government overspent by billions and concealed it from the public.

Speaking in Parliament, Luke Myer MP said:

“The right hon. Gentleman has mentioned the OBR. I wonder whether he has read their report, in which it states:

“The Treasury did not share information with the OBR about the large pressures on [resource departmental expenditure limits], about the unusual extent of commitments against the reserve, or about any plans to manage these pressures down”.

“I wonder whether he will take this opportunity to apologise for that extraordinary fiscal failure.”

The Shadow Minister did not apologise.

The report from the OBR can be read here. It runs until the March 2024 forecast; the Treasury’s audit into the black hole runs until July 2024.

Luke says: “Once again, the Tories came to Parliament to deny their shocking record – this time, this act of astonishing economic vandalism that they walked away from with no responsibility. Well, the British people won’t let them forget it, and neither will I. They ought to apologise for the damage they caused – and for leaving it to Labour to take the difficult decisions to settle the bill.”