The deficit

So we"ve had the Autumn statement yesterday and according to the Chancellor, it is going to be another 5 years before what the Government raises in taxes will exceed what it spends each year. In the meanwhile, each year, the Government will continue to borrow more money and add it to the £1.2 trillion that it has already borrowed.

To put that number into context, when Gordon Brown came to office as Chancellor in 1997, the national debt was only £5 billion. By 2008, his spend and borrow policies had ratched up the national debt to £300 billion. Debt was spiralling out of control and by the time he left office in 2010, the national debt was £600 billion and rising rapidly.

In four years, the Coalition government has borrowed another £600 billion, despite the so called cuts, leaving the national debt at an eye watering £1.2 trillion.

Now we know that the Government is going to have to borrow more money every year for the next five years, leaving us owing £1.5 trillion by 2019. Even then, the Chancellor is only forecasting a tiny annual surplus of £4 billion, which no where near enough to start to repay our vast debts.

It is clear from the numbers that the nation faces many years of deep cuts in public spending and/or large tax rises if financial disaster is to be avoided.