The British government borrowing figures for May have been published and they are big league statistics. Public sector debt at the end of last month amounted to 100.9 per cent of GDP – the first time debt has exceeded 100 per cent of GDP since the financial year ending March 1963. Debt totalled £1,950.1 billion, an increase of £173.2 billion, or 20.5 per cent, on last May, the largest recorded year-on-year increase. And so on… The ONS figures remorselessly report record increases in public spending across all fields of accounting.
There is immense scope to improve public sector productivity – but investment is needed
Without an efficient public sector, either services will need to be cut back or taxes will have to rise further. Neither is appealing.
