Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1
Interesting stats cropped up in one of my feeds:
Labour 2010
National debt £979.8bn
National debt as a % of GDP 65%
Conservatives 2016
National debt £1,731.4tn
National debt as a % of GDP 89%
If it's correct, it puts an interesting slant on things.
|
It doesn't put any slant on anything. These figures, and the reason for them, are well known.
The national debt has gone up because there is a structural deficit - each year, we spend more than we raise in tax. There is a structural deficit because Labour allowed welfare and other spending to spiral and because in 2008 they then had to borrow a shedload of cash to bail out the banks. Because we have to service the debt, in order to shrink the deficit the Tory government since 2010 has been reducing public spending (the austerity Lefties like to bleat about). Only once the structural deficit has been eliminated can the national debt start to fall.
If there is a Tory government after June 8 this year, the deficit will shrink and disappear, and the national debt will start to be paid down.
If there is a Labour government after June 8, the deficit and the debt will go up, just as it would have done if Labour had won in 2015.
The choice really is that simple.