Environment secretary says Tories ‘covered up’ just how ‘catastrophic’ UK finances are

Environment secretary says Tories 'covered up' just how 'catastrophic' UK finances areSource: PA, Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg

Transcript

00:00How bad are you saying the public finances are now?

00:04Well, we knew the inheritance was going to be bad and that was being flagged up through the election

00:10but we've got into our offices now, we've seen what's really been going on and it's catastrophic.

00:15It's worse?

00:16There were things that we could not have known during the election

00:20because the Conservatives had not only not released the information

00:24but in some cases they deliberately covered it up.

00:27So if you take the prison situation, that was one of the first crises that hit this new government.

00:33We were being reassured time and again that although prison places were tight

00:38there were enough places to lock up those offenders who had been sentenced to a custodial term in jail.

00:46Shabana Mahmood was appointed Justice Secretary, she goes into the department

00:50and she's told that the Prime Minister was given a letter by senior civil servants ahead of the election

00:55warning him of what they call critical failure and that by August there would be no prison places left

01:01and if judges sentenced offenders to jail terms they would not go to jail.