Labour has repeatedly accused the previous government of leaving a £22bn "black hole" in the public finances - a claim previous chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, described as "spurious".

Jeremy Hunt - the last Conservative chancellor - said the £22bn gap was “spurious” and that the public finances were not nearly as bad as Ms Reeves had tried to present them.

Career prosecutors who pushed back against spurious criminal charges, for example, were fired or chose to resign.

It was made all the more believable because, unlike fake audio which usually appears first from spurious sources, this was broadcast on an official Nasa channel.

His partner Mr Warmington said it became clear that the Post Office was "aware, possibly at the highest levels" that the Horizon system had "for years been producing spurious discrepancies in branch accounts".