"Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money"

George Osborne, the Conservative Chancellor, and David Laws, his Liberal Democrat deputy, used their first joint appearance to make common cause of an aggressive timetable for cuts, savings and spending targets.

To underline the extent of the task, Mr Laws made political capital from a letter left for him on his Treasury desk by Liam Byrne, his Labour predecessor.The note — dated April 6, the day that Gordon Brown called the election — read: “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards — and good luck! Liam.”

Mr Byrne said yesterday that the letter had been intended as a joke.