UK politics live: Rachel Reeves accuses Tories of cover up as cuts to hospital, rail and road projects expected

Rachel Reeves said the previous government “covered up” things in the public finances and that Labour has inherited a projected overspend of £22 billion from the previous Tory administration.

In a speech in the House of Commons, the chancellor has accused the previous Conservative government of “covering up the true state of the public finances” as she revealed the results of the Treasury spending audit she commissioned.

Ms Reeves will reportedly cancel some road and rail projects, and also make alterations to the hospital building programme.

A new Office of Value for Money, a Labour manifesto pledge, will start work right away to identify and recommend areas where the government can save money in the current financial year, she said.

The office is expected to announce public cuts worth billions to plug the gap in the public finances that could see the cancellation of projects including the road tunnel near Stonehenge and Boris Johnson’s New Hospital programme.

But the long-waited announcement comes with