UK's new Treasury chief says previous government 'covered up' financial turmoil ahead of election

Britain’s new Treasury chief is alleging that the previous government covered up the dire state of the nation’s finances, as she prepares to deliver a major speech to Parliament that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for higher taxes. In extracts of her speech released late Sunday, Rachel Reeves professed shock at the scale of the problems she discovered following a department-by-department review of public spending commissioned shortly after she took office three weeks ago. While the excerpts included no figures, Reeves is expected to outline on Monday a shortfall in public finances of 20 billion pounds, or $26 billion.