General Election 2015: David Cameron slams Ed Balls as Miliband’s third choice for shadow chancellor
The General Election campaign got heated today after David Cameron slammed Ed Balls for describing the note left by ex-Treasury minister Liam Byrne telling the government there was no money left as "a joke."
Balls made the remarks after in an interview with the BBC in the West Midlands yeasterday. He claimed Byrne's note that greeted the incoming coalition government wasn't accurate and that there was money left at the of the last Parliament.
The comments elicited a furious response from David Cameron, who was speaking at an event in Glasgow today with the Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson. The Prime Minister labelled Ball's remarks "appalling" and the worst thing he had heard in the campaign so far.
The Tory leader said Byrne's note was correct, and there was no money left. In a pointed attack on Balls, who Cameron has previously called "the most annoying person in British politics" said he wasn't "surprised he (Balls) was Ed Miliband's third choice to be his shadow chancellor."
Ed Balls dismissing the note Labour left Britain as a "joke" is a disgrace. My video: https://t.co/WO0I9ZwJsF
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) April 16, 2015
Speaking to the Daily Politics Labour's Kevin Brennan shrugged off the note saying it was a tradition for the chief secretary to the Treasury to leave a humourous note for their successor.
Ed Balls attempted to reinforce Labour's message that it could be trusted with the public finances and accused the Tories of making £25bn worth of unfunded spending commitments.