Ed Balls has been accused of treating the public with 'contempt ' after dismissing as a 'joke ' the infamous Labour note admitting the party had blown the nation 's finances . The shadow chancellor said the letter , left in the Treasury by the former Labour minister Liam Byrne in 2010 , was just a 'jokey note ' . Mr Byrne 's glib note to his successor as Treasury Secretary stated : 'Dear Chief Secretary , I 'm afraid there is no money . Kind regards – and good luck ! Liam . ' Scroll down for video . Damaging : Labour 's Liam Byrne sent left this handwritten note to his successor before he left the Treasury in 2010 . The note has become emblematic of Labour 's fiscal irresponsibility in office and was used by David Cameron in the seven-way leaders ' debate earlier this month . When the Coalition took office in 2010 the budget deficit had reached more than £150billion – more than 10 per cent of the entire size of the economy . But Mr Ball insisted the note admitting that Labour had blown the nation 's finances should not be taken seriously . He told BBC West Midlands : 'Liam Byrne 's note was a jokey note… of the course the money had n't run out . ' Mr Balls said Labour would cut the deficit – still running at £90billion a year – every year . He said : 'Nothing in our manifesto is going to require additional borrowing . I think in tough times , people want a government which will make tough decisions , and will make the sums add up , and that is what we 're saying very clearly today . ' But he was asked if Labour was 'credible ' and could be trusted with the economy . Mr Balls said : ' I think people want to know the sums add up . People know that the global financial crisis was n't caused by Labour 's spending – it was n't Labour 's spending on nurses and doctors which meant the Lehman Brothers investment bank went bankrupt in New York . 'Liam Byrne 's note was a jokey note , of course the money had n't run out . ' Ed Balls , pictured in Birmingham today , said the letter , left in the Treasury by the former Labour minister Liam Byrne in 2010 , was just a 'jokey note ' Mr Balls blamed the Lib Dem minister David Laws for leaking the note . He said it was supposed to be a private note , adding : 'It was supposed to be a piece of humour . In fact , in that year , the government spend hundreds of billions of pounds , so of course the money had n't run out , but there was a large deficit , and we had to get it down , and we needed to get it down in a fair way . 'The reason why we 're more credible than the Tories now is that they 're not people who understand the need for change in the economy , it 's not been all in it together , they 've not even balanced the books – it 's going to take a Labour government to do it . ' Former Treasury Secretary Liam Byrne left the note to his successor David Laws in 2010 . The Tories this morning slammed Mr Balls 's remarks – claiming they showed that he had not learnt the lessons from the great economic crash . Treasury minister David Gauke said : 'The fact that Ed Balls thinks the debt they left the country was a 'joke ' goes to show the contempt they hold the public in . 'It is clear Labour has not learnt the lessons of the past and would do the same all over again - more taxes , more borrowing and more debt . ' The letter has haunted Labour for years , allowing Tory and Liberal Democrat ministers to prove the nation 's coffers were empty . The letter consisting of just 18 words it offers no apology or justification for the state of the nation 's finances , only a glib 'good luck ' to whoever was left to clear up the economic mess . Written in blue ink on government note paper , it was opened by Lib Dem David Laws who became Chief Secretary to the Treasury when the coalition was formed . Lib Dem Mr Laws said : 'He left a note which frankly does sum up precisely the state of the Treasury when he left it . I think it is refreshing that a Labour politician has been prepared to admit that . ' Mr Byrne has admitted he will regret it for the rest of his life . He said : 'It was a very foolish thing to do . ' I suppose I did think there was a convention amongst honourable members that private correspondence would stay private . 'There 's obviously a very old tradition of these notes that goes back to the 1930s . I felt disappointed that some very old conventions had been cast aside for political advantage . '
Letter was left in the Treasury by the former minister David Laws in 2010 . It said : 'Dear Chief Secretary , I 'm afraid there is no money . Good luck ' Balls insists it was just a 'jokey note ' that should not be taken seriously . The Tories this morning accused him of treating the public with 'contempt '