BRITAIN’S NATIONAL DEBT RISES ABOVE £3tn – The TaxPayers’ Alliance said it believed the public debt had tipped over the landmark
Britain’s national debt has risen above £3tn for the first time, campaigners have claimed.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance said it believed the public debt had tipped over the landmark in recent days based on the trajectory of spending.
The pressure group’s calculations are based on the fact that the Government borrowed £2.7bn more than expected in the first three months of the current financial year as a result of higher debt interest payments and welfare spending.
Labour is now borrowing £4,270 every second, the TaxPayers’ Alliance estimates, or £369m per day.
The scale of debt highlights the challenges facing John Healey, who has vowed to make “fiscal discipline” his top priority as Chancellor.
John O’Connell, the chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the national debt was “out of control” and urged Mr Healey and Andy Burnham to rein in spending.
He said: “If Andy Burnham is serious about ushering in a new economic model, he should do it without creating a bigger bill for our children and grandchildren to pay off.”
Ruth Curtice, the former Treasury official now heading the Resolution Foundation, has previously warned that public finances were on a “deeply unsustainable path”.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Britain’s debt stood at £2.99bn at the end of June.
Official data for July have not yet been published, but in the same month last year public sector net debt rose by more than £20bn, which would tip it over the £3tn mark.
In March, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast that the national debt would breach the level in September.
