Sir Nicholas Macpherson, the top civil servant at HM Treasury, told Jo in a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee that Labour had "lost control of public spending" in at least three key government departments –health, education and defence – in the "middle of the last decade".

Jo said: "This is a big admission. The top civil servant at the Treasury has admitted that Labour lost control of public spending when it was in power. His comments have blown another massive hole in the Labour party's economic credibility, underling the extent to which opposition leadership remains in total denial over its mismanagement of the economy prior to the financial crisis."   

To read more about the Public Accounts Committee, click here