London
\nBritain\u2019s government declared the country was \u201cbroke and broken\u201d ahead of an assessment of the public finances on Monday which the newly-elected Labour Party will use to blame their predecessors for a 20 billion pound ($26 billion) shortfall.
\nElected to run the world\u2019s sixth largest economy in a landslide victory on July 4, Labour has spent much of its first three weeks in power telling the public that things are worse than expected in almost every area of public policy.
\nFinance minister Rachel Reeves will set out the findings of a fiscal review in a statement to parliament that will accuse the Conservative Party\u2013which led the country for the previous 14 years\u2013of making unfunded spending commitments to try to win public support.
\n\u201cThe assessment will show that Britain is broke and broken\u2013revealing the mess that populist politics has made of the economy and public services,\u201d a statement issued by Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s office said.
\n\u201cIt will show that the previous government made significant funding commitments for this financial year without knowing where the money would come from.\u201d
\nThe Conservatives have dismissed Labour\u2019s widely-previewed announcement of a \u2018black hole\u2019 in the public finances as a fabricated pretext for tax rises it did not disclose during the election campaign.
\nSome economists were also sceptical, saying there were few big surprises Labour could not have foreseen before taking office.
\nReeves will also reveal the date for her first budget, commission the independent forecasts that will be published alongside that budget, and set out plans for the formal spending review process that decides how much money each department gets.
\nShe is also expected to agree to above-inflation pay awards for teachers and health workers.
\nIt is unclear how Labour will address the shortfall it identifies. Reeves is hemmed in by election promises not to raise rates of income tax, National Insurance social security payments, value-added tax and corporation tax.
\nMedia reports have mooted that Reeves would use Monday\u2019s statement to pave the way for other tax rises at the subsequent budget.
\nThe Financial Times said she would delay some road and hospital building projects.
\nThe government statement did not set out any measures, but senior Labour minister Pat McFadden said: \u201cWe will not shy away from being honest with the public about the reality of what we have inherited.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London Britain\u2019s government declared the country was \u201cbroke and broken\u201d ahead of an assessment of the public finances on Monday which the newly-elected Labour Party will use to blame their predecessors for a 20 billion pound ($26 billion) shortfall. Elected to run the world\u2019s sixth largest economy in a landslide victory on July 4, Labour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-421358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n