It hasn't been this big since 1974

[Cyberman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8160614.stm

Total outstanding government debt in the UK has risen to a record £799bn, or 56.6% of UK GDP - the highest since records began in 1974.


Didn't we have a Labour government then as well?

Is there a pattern emerging?

In those days we had massive problems with miners and electrician strikes, and also were held to ransom by the oil states. Nowadays we have no such excuse. We just have a crap government that does not understand that you should not spend more than you have to spend.

[OwlHoot]

Paying Richard the Lionheart's ransom of 150,000 marks resulted in a national debt of 300% GDP. That was in the 1190s so a bit before my time.

Richard I said he'd be happy to sell London if anyone would have it.

I think before long the NHS will be up for sale too, if some Yank investors can afford it and want it. And a good thing too - It's a millstone round our necks, and high time it was privatized.

[OwlHoot]

I've said all along that we are losing a billion pounds every two days. This just underlines further that dire situation and the need for HMG to stop wasting money. The sooner that they start making savings, the less we will have to pay later, but they just seem too thick to understand this simple truth.

On the evidence of that post, I'm afraid it's you who are too thick to understand the simple truth - Gordon Brown will do *anything* in the forlorn hope of winning the next election, including screwing up the economy for the next ten or twenty years.

That's *all* he cares about, postponing the day of reckoning until after the election.

[thunderlizard]

Richard I said he'd be happy to sell London if anyone would have it.

Londres?
C'est à vendre

[TimberWolf]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8160614.stm

Total outstanding government debt in the UK has risen to a record £799bn, or 56.6% of UK GDP - the highest since records began in 1974.


Didn't we have a Labour government then as well?

Is there a pattern emerging?

I like the cheery note on which the article ended:

Meanwhile, a National Audit Office (NAO) report said that tax receipts fell by 10% in the past year - the biggest fall since 1923.

[BrilloPad]

Richard I said he'd be happy to sell London if anyone would have it.

I think before long the NHS will be up for sale too, if some Yank investors can afford it and want it. And a good thing too - It's a millstone round our necks, and high time it was privatized.

Why not just close it down and make everyone go private?

[Menelaus]

Yes.

I trust you are looking forward to 33% basic rate tax again...

You never know, maybe they'll bring back Selective Employment Tax as well...

IR35, 2009 ... it's back, and this time it's pissed off!

[d000hg]

I think before long the NHS will be up for sale too, if some Yank investors can afford it and want it. And a good thing too - It's a millstone round our necks, and high time it was privatized.

How can it ever be profitable while still giving a welfare state? Or do you suggest a privatised company which still gets substantial government subsidy/investment?