Case weighs in on £22bn 'black hole' - who is right?

In a highly unusual move, Simon Case – cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, a job that includes protecting the impartiality of the government machine – has engaged in direct debate with the opposition over some sensitive political issues.

- SEAN O'GRADY

In a letter to former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Case appears to criticise the previous government’s approach to managing public finances, thus addressing the question of the £22bn “black hole” Labour accuses the Tories of leaving behind. The private note was leaked to the media, raising some troublesome questions…

Why was Case writing to Hunt?

Because Hunt wrote to him first – publicly – seeking his support against Labour’s claim it has been left with a mess. Hunt asked if it was right for Labour “to make claims about the public finances to the House of Commons which directly contradict the documents and legislation the new government has put before parliament, signed off by Senior Civil Servant Accounting Officers”.

Hunt’s argument was that there could be no sudden emergence of a “black hole” when the new Labour administration had accepted the previous government’s figures, as laid out by Treasury civil servants. (In other words, Hunt implied, Rachel Reeves is just looking for a big excuse to raise taxes, which she planned to do all along.)

What is Case’s “criticism”?

Oblique, and technical. Case praised Labour’s handling of actual spending versus planned spending, which can be taken as a criticism of recent Tory failures to keep on top of this.