'He lied': Reeves and Hunt at war over claims of £22bn black hole

CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves clashed furiously with her predecessor Jeremy Hunt after she accused him of “lying” over the state of the public finances before the general election.

- Nicholas Cecil and Rachael Burford

She claimed yesterday that she had discovered a £22 billion black hole in the public finances after taking over at the helm of the Treasury. And she accused former chancellor Mr Hunt of not being honest with the public about the crisis in the Treasury coffers before the July 4 election.

“He lied and they lied during the election campaign about the state of the public finances,” she told Sky News.

But Mr Hunt hit back, arguing that it was in fact Labour which was planning to raise taxes but had not been open with voters. “It discredits politics when people call each other liars,” he said. “I think she can do better than descend to that kind of politics.”