British Labour minister’s parting words infuriate successor
Upon arriving at his new office, British Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liberal Democrat David Laws was expecting constructive advice from his predecessor. What he got, observes the Daily Mail, was more like a “final two-fingered salute.” In a handwritten note, his forerunner in the position, Labour minister Liam Byrne left him with these parting words: “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there is no money. Kind regards and good luck!” Though Byrne maintains the note was meant as “a joke from Chief Secretary to another,” Laws is reportedly furious, pointing to the national debt, which has been revealed to be nearly $3 trillion, as evidence that Labour has left the country’s finances in an “utterly ruinous state.” There is, of course, some truth behind every joke.