Labour will try to blame the Tories for tough spending decisions

Rachel Reeves used her first speech as chancellor to draw attention to ‘the legacy of 14 years of chaos and economic irresponsibility’ the Labour government has inherited. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Rex/Shutterstock

Where the Conservatives had “there is no money”, Labour now has “the things we shamefully left undone”.

The government has spent much of its first week in power pinning the blame for its politically sensitive decisions on the previous incumbents, much as the Conservatives did after 2010.