How deep is Britain’s fiscal “black hole”?

THE FIRSTGDP months of a new British government are precious. Any problems can be blamed on ministers’ predecessors, who will struggle for a hearing. Capitalising on that honeymoon period can neutralise the political costs of tough choices: George Osborne, a former Conservative chancellor, moved quickly after the 2010 election to pin the need for swingeing spending cuts on Labour’s profligacy. Britain’s new is following the same playbook. On July 29th Rachel Reeves presented the results of an audit into the state of the public finances, which she had commissioned straight after the election.With the stern look of a disappointed headteacher, Ms Reeves decried an “unforgivable” . Her focus was on immediate pressures in the current financial year. Even after accounting for the Treasury’s rainy-day fund and assumptions that some programmes would come in under-budget, she told Parliament that a £21.9bn ($28.2bn, 0.8% of ) overspend had been uncovered. About half of that sum came from inflation-busting pay increases for teachers, nurses, doctors and other public-sector workers. Most of the remaining overspend came from £6.4bn in higher-than-expected costs associated with asylum-seekers and illegal migration, along with smaller contributions from weapons for Ukraine, support for the railways and more.