A sad record as the new Labour government will present a “painful” budget in October.
Alert across the Channel. In August, the United Kingdom’s public debt reached a level not seen since the 1960s: 100% of gross domestic product (GDP), or 2,546 billion pounds (3,032 billion euros), according to figures published on Friday. However, even at this record level, Great Britain is doing better than France, whose debt climbed to 110.7% of GDP at the end of the first quarter of 2024, or 3,159.7 billion euros. A poor figure only exceeded in the EU by Italy (nearly 138%) and Greece (almost 160%).
UK debt is on a trajectory that risks being “ unbearable »the government’s budget forecasting agency (OBR) warned last week that if the country continues in this direction, it “ will almost triple » in the coming decades. This new slippage is explained by “ higher expenses »with the increase in social benefits and salaries in public services.
Iron budgetary discipline
The record puts pressure on Keir Starmer’s Labour government, which came to power in July after a campaign focused on a “ iron budgetary discipline »The executive blames 14 years of conservative governments for a “ black hole » of £22 billion in public finances. And the Prime Minister has already warned that his first budget, due on 30 October, would be “ painful » with probable cuts in public spending and tax increases. On both sides of the Channel, despite differences in political colouring, the same causes produce the same effects.
