Sitting on the train from Redruth back up to Westminster, having had just 48 hours back home to catch up on constituency matters, there is a sense of foreboding.

Prior to the election we knew that, after 14 years of totally incompetent Conservative fiscal management, the public finances were in a pretty dire state. As soon as the new Labour government took over, every single department was instructed to find out what the true scale of the problem is.

Now, we’ve said from day one that this government will be frank and upfront on what we are doing and why we are doing it. And I have to tell you that the mismanagement of our public finances is far worse than expected. It has become clear that the Conservative government simply ran away, rather than taking the really tough decisions we needed. This abdication of responsibility should not be forgotten or forgiven. We’ve already had to take drastic action to make space in our prisons by releasing criminals earlier than expected, we’ve found the scale of wastage on the Rwanda gimmick at eye-watering levels and now the chancellor Rachel Reeves has heard back from each department.

What the Conservatives have bequeathed to the country is a multi-billion pound back hole in the public finances. The good news is that if anyone can get us out of this mess, it is Chancellor Reeves. She has pledged to fix the foundations of our economy and set out reforms to deliver economic stability and protect the public finances. A new ‘Office of Value for Money’ will be created to challenge government to deliver better value for money for taxpayers. We will fix the foundations of our economy, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off. There will be no more surprise budgets. There will be just one a year giving businesses certainty and stability.

I was part of a group of 50-plus Labour MPs that signed a letter to the Prime Minister encouraging him to continue to take the tough decisions needed to get our economy growing again: “Growing the economy will be the way in which we can unlock Britain’s untapped potential, better fund our vital public services, and make people better off in every part of the country. This absolutely has to start with the sweeping planning reforms to get Britain building again. Under the Tories, planning permissions for new homes hit record lows and housebuilding cratered. Indeed, not once in their 14 years in power did the Conservatives meet their housing targets. Energy and transport projects were promised but not built. That’s why we are writing to you to make clear that it’s in the national interest to start delivering on our manifesto promise, including 1.5-million more homes across this parliament at the earliest opportunity.”

For us in Cornwall, that means more council and truly affordable homes. We promised change. We’re going to deliver it.

Perran Moon, Labour MP for Camborne & Redruth