A fool’s paradise
Alan W Smith believes that we must face up to reality
Some Friends argue that ‘We are not all in this together’ (8 April) on inequality in pay. Such aspirational debate is entirely laudable and appreciated. However, to then describe our national debt in terms of political pretext just beggars belief. The national debt is totally real and every penny will have to be repaid. The facts are: government income is five hundred billion pounds; expenditure last year was seven hundred billion pounds, giving a budget deficit of two hundred billion pounds. This is forty per cent above income. The national debt is now well over one trillion pounds, net. The government take of our gross domestic product (GDP) is now fifty-three per cent and rising. The debt interest last year was forty-three billion pounds, a rise of five per cent from the previous year. So what will this year’s be? This money is completely lost to the government’s revenue and to society.
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