'There is no money': West Midlands Mayor candidate Liam Byrne explains infamous austerity note

Labour's candidate for West Midlands Mayor was Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the dying embers of Gordon Brown's government in 2010 when he left a note to his successor saying: "I’m afraid there is no money."

The note – which Mr Byrne has said left him ashamed – came after Labour had built up a huge deficit which resulted in David Cameron's coalition government bringing in spending cuts.

Mr Byrne said the cuts were made in the wrong places and claimed that if Ministers had followed his plan the country would have been in a better position heading into the Covid pandemic.

He told the Express & Star: "I left that note because my job was to say no to people who wanted to do things. I was the 'no man'.

"The plan that I left entailed some tax rises, some spending cuts, but crucially economic growth that would have balanced the books in such a way that we'd have had the deficit falling by 2016.

"The Tories slashed corporation taxes, which meant that public services were starved and we went into Covid in a weaker position than we could have done, which is why we have had the highest death rate in Europe.

"We have got to look back and learn those lessons, but the past is the past and we've got to look to the future."

Mr Byrne has vowed to hold an emergency budget if he becomes Mayor to open up the purse strings and start re-allocating cash "to things that people think are most important".

The Birmingham MP said combatting knife crime and gang violence was a priority, and has pledged to put youth workers in every neighbourhood as part of a plan to restore youth services across the West Midlands.

Speaking during a visit to Bilston Town's Queen Street stadium, he said a "perfect storm" was brewing on the back of rising youth unemployment and cuts to youth services and police officer numbers.

"People know that knife crime is rising sharply and they can feel and see the tragedies. They don't want it to go on," Mr Byrne said.

"If we want to be the region with the best life chances for young people, we need to start acting now to save lives."

He said he would strike a deal with organisations including Sport England and the Arts Council to create "fast track funding" for the next 10 years that community groups could use to develop outreach programmes.

Knife crime has soared in the region since Labour Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson took office in 2014.

According to Home Office figures there were 1,558 knife offences in the year to March 2015, a figure which rose 120 per cent to 3,437 in the year to March 2020.

However, Mr Byrne refused to lay any blame at the PCC's door, insisting he had done a "heroic job given the resources he's been given", and claiming the retiring Mr Jamieson had "consistently stood up and fought for the budgets that we deserve".

He also endorsed Labour PCC candidate Simon Foster, a Jeremy Corbyn devotee who he described as "a brilliant lawyer who has fought for the rights of the poor for his whole life".

Mr Byrne refused to give assurances that knife crime would come down should be become Mayor, saying only that he would put in place "measures that have been proven to reduce knife crime".

"That is my commitment at this election. We will make that happen." he said.

The election for West Midlands Mayor takes place on May 6, and will see Conservative Andy Street bid for a second term in office.

Steve Caudwell (Green), Jenny Wilkinson (Lib Dem) and independent candidates Ashvir Sangha and Tim Weller are also standing.