Labour minister who wrote infamous ‘there’s money left’ note was ready to ‘throw himself off a cliff’ when it was made public
Liam Byrne said he was ‘ready to quit public life’ after the letter he left for his replacement was used against his party
THE MINISTER who wrote the infamous “no money left” note when he left the Government said he ready to throw himself off a cliff when it was made public.
Labour’s former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne said he was “ready to quit public life” once the letter was used by David Cameron to attack his party on the economy.
His Liberal Democrat replacement David Laws broke with convention when he disclosed details of the letter Mr Byrne wrote as he was clearing his desk after the Coalition government was formed in 2010.
The 15-word note was repeatedly used against Labour and its leader Ed Miliband as evidence that it failed to take the country's finances seriously.
Mr Cameron took to carrying it round with him as he was campaigning ahead of the 2015 election, and even brandished it during a live TV debate as he sought another term in Number 10.
Mr Byrne said he was "kind of ready" to throw himself off a cliff amid the condemnation, although he stressed he did not seriously entertain suicide.
He told an audience at The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival that he went to seek advice from his uncle in Dorset after the note was revealed at a time when he was struggling to deal with his father's drink-related death.
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"I was ready to quit public life," Mr Byrne said. "I hadn't been able to save my dad from drinking and I had written this note that was now being used to hammer the Labour Party.
"So I, in my desperation, in a real moment of anguish, took myself to my uncle, who is the wisest man I know.
"He walked me up to the cliff at the back of his house in Dorset and I was kind of ready to throw myself off.
"I said, 'What am I supposed to do?'. And he gave me a brilliant line from Samuel Beckett: 'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better'."
Asked if he felt ashamed, Mr Byrne said: "Completely, because on a very personal level I thought I had failed my dad.
"But in my public life I've also committed this terrible mistake."
Mr Byrne wrote the note on April 6, 2010 as the country prepared to choose a new government.
It said: ''Dear chief secretary, I'm afraid there is no money. Kind regards - and good luck! Liam.''
Mr Byrne has since admitted that every day he "burnt with the shame of it".