Seriously i just cannot see the uk's debt figure coming down, what are we £1.6 trilllion in debt, The nasty tory party can't get a grip on it even though loads of cuts brought in, hitting welfare and the vulnerable that need the support but no they suffer too. Labour haven't managed to get it down but at least i think they did better than this government in now.

Without going the absolute hog and put everything on rations like it was in the war and workhouses brought back and just can't see a way round it and before very long it will be £2 trillion. I think the only way is to looking after are own first as a priority before helping others out.

We're all in it together? my arse.

You make it sound like under Corbyn and Abbott, they are the party of Viagra. *Puke smiley*.

Six o'clock tomorrow evening.

Does any party have a plan to get the uk in a much better situation, i'm not convinced on Miss May over brexit either.

Labour set the tanker hms uk on course for the rocks. The tories aren't changing course.


The only saving grace is that virtually every other Western Country is in the same boat.

We are 1.6 trillion in debt because we are not managing to pay for everything and service the massive debt created by Labour

Thatcher/Reagan did that by deregulating the finance industry & turning a lot of the illegal tax evasion schemes of the day into legal tax avoidance.

Simply not true.

Thatcher deregulated the finance sector.

The banks took advantage.. Labour should have tightened the regulations but would have suffered a backlash.

Cameron & co have doubled the debt while allowing a new banking crisis to unfold.

The economy is in a far worse state than it was in 2008.

like a lot of other leading countries we will never be out of debt. Almost every economy borrows money that it knows will never be fully repaid.;

We could "clear" the debt by the BOE gradually buying the debt and letting it disappear. They could also lend the Govt money at 0% interest.

This doesn't prevent good house keeping and budgeting. It would even lower spending requirements as we spend a lot on interest.

It is in the best interest of rich businessmen to earn free money from Govt debt so they won't bankrupt us and will allow the farce to continue.

The problem is that human instincts to "hibernate" kick in when times are tough.
But how can cutting back make you richer? To get richer requires action, not inaction.

So the end result of all this hibernation is very predictable, things just get worse...

Cuts cuts cuts is like a permanent recession. Yet people won't be convinced because you would be going against their deep instinct.

No that's a bit soon. Sunday afternoon at three o'clock in the afternoon seems more likely.

Just how long can the Tories and their dedicated followers keep blaming the long gone Labour government for our current economic problems. Since the GLOBAL ECONOMIC DISASTER, We had 5 years of Tory/Lib Dem coalition and another 2 years of Cameron/May. To continue to blame former governments is saying we have done nothing in those 7 years and the austerity pain was for nothing.

Face up to it - the Tories can not cope with debt reduction - Brexit is the best thing to happen for them. Any financial issues from now on will be the necessary pain for "Taking back control".

Well people are still blaming Thatcher..but I digress. Without some sort of cross party agreement, I can't see any party getting to grips with the national debt. Tough choices have to be made but any attempt to execute them would be met with uproar by the public and cheap political point scoring by opposing parties.

So for now we just keep kicking the can down the road.

This is only because you have a very limited mental capacity yourself - so hardly a fit and proper person to criticise the educated and elected.

During the war, food had to be rationed as the boats that were bringing food and fuel were being destroyed by the Germans... Does your fairly limited imagination think that the German state will declare war against the UK?

As to "workhouses", what exactly do you think will be done in them? They were already a thing of the past in the late 19th century - machines operating more efficiently than a person ever could.

Just as in the household, cutting back makes you poorer.

It's counter-intuitive, but we see it in real life so it cannot be denied.

Although people do deny it of course.

When computers run out of noughts.

Err actually the Big Bang was the deregulation of stockbroking.
Prior to that you had different companies doing broking and jobbing.


The laissez fare attitude to banking/money was Brown/Clinton

You make very good points, sb. The deficit and national debt are, indeed, massive elephants in the room, steadily getting bigger and bigger and society is fast heading back to Victorian sweat-shop values while at the same time the rich and powerful are getting more so. It will all end in tears and we are not all in it together. The Tory fat-cats have already ring-fenced their wealth and will be immune from the consequences of their actions whatever happens.

Thats because you will always increase the debt until you eliminate the deficit. Which was Labours fault for creating in the first place.

That won't happen without more austerity or tax rises. Whats your solution?

Seeing as Labour created the problem in the first place I fail to see how you think they did better than the current government. For all his faults at least Osborne was trying to eliminate the deficit and reduce the debt.

Not sure how Labour would do better when they're planning masssive uncosted spending.

Once our debt gets to a pound over £100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 then we can enter the Guinness Book Of Records as that's the approximate number of atoms in the universe.

Or what will be written on a banknote in 2019 to buy you a pizza

PS How DO you write 10 to the power of 82 on a forum....

Someone said yesterday: Is Brexit going to brought into every problem facing the UK?
And the answer is: Probably Yes.

If the referendum had never happened, we would still be a country slowly recovering from the 2008 World Banking Crisis. We would still be looking at a Tory govt for the foreseeable future. We would still be making slow progress dealing with the debt and the deficit. We would still be dealing with an NHS funding crisis and there would be a huge discussion - right now - about spending priorities.

But the problem is this. There is a 50% chance that David Cameron has seriously damaged the UK Economy. Seriously damaged what we already had. And what we already had was George Osborne doing just enough (in 2010) to persuade the International Money Markets that we are "not Greece".

The good news is: By definition....I am accepting that there is a 50% chance that Cameron has not seriously damaged the UK Economy (and that there will be a benign settlement with our Eu Partners).
The bad news is: I don't like these odds. I say that these odds are terrifying.

George Osborne added £600bn to the national debt - more than every government in UK history combined up to 1997.

Because we are not managing to pay for everything and service the massive debt created by Labour