I like to think I'm an optimist, always able to turn a negative into a positive, every cloud has a silver lining. However, when it comes to the financial mess that the UK is in following 13 years of Labour rule, I feel distinctly gloomy.
Before we can address the issue, we need to get a clear understanding of the problem. So lets start with some simple facts for the 2011/2012 tax year and explain debt and deficit:
Government income - £550bn
Government spending - £700bn
Government Debt - £900bn
So what can clearly be seen is that we are spending more than we earn. This shortfall is the deficit, currently around £150bn a year. Our debt is £900bn and grows each year by the deficit amount.
It is predicted that even with the government cuts the debt will have grown to £1,300bn by the end of the current parliament.
The numbers speak for themselves and the scale of the problem is truly mind blowing!
So the Government has to increase income or reduce expenditure which the current Government has promised to do.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see if they live up to that promise.