One of the worst features of the government situation is the colossal and fast growing debt interest costs. Now over £100 bn a year, this is hard earned taxpayer money that buys us nothing we want. It has leapt up both because this government has continued the bad ways of the covid period and borrowed so much more money, and because the UK now has to pay a higher interest rates than most advanced countries because it is not controlling its public finances properly. As Mr Burnham took over the cost of the UK state borrowing for ten years went over 5%, compared to the one day only spiked rate of 4.s8% under Liz Truss which Labour so roundly condemned. The Truss government never borrowed at anything like that rate. This government is regularly borrowing at rates around 5%. This too is a growing burden, as the low interest rate debts of the 2010-23 period come up for renewal that then means a big increase in the debt interest.
So what does the government have to do? It has to cut spending and borrowing this year and next. It has to do so in a credible way. That gives triple relief. It means less new debt. It means a lower interest rate for the new borrowings. It means a lower rollover rate for the old borrowings that need replacing. It is quite easy to find spending to cut. They could start with carbon capture and storage and the excessive net zero subsidies. They have announced some cut back in the digital ID work, though One Government ID continues. The Opposition has set out a substantial programme of benefit cuts and has offered support in the Commons to get it through. They could open up oil and gas development, bringing substantial new tax revenues to the UK instead of exporting the tax to the overseas supplying countries.
July 22, 2026
Some hope of reducing spending when Mad Ed has been put in charge of foreign policy and wil be keen on aid and reparations, while having insulted Trump, and put a virtual communist green zealot in charge of Ed’s ministry. Despite having an excellent education in England, she believes in the collective economics that failed everywhere, that CO2 will destroy the environment and that increasing wind and solar will bring energy costs down. Even 20 years ago in his book Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air, Professor MacKay showed that countless with high renewables had high costs and that running a new system alongside a dispatchable backup generation would be expensive.
July 22, 2026
Well at least Mad Ed won’t be flying off everywhere surely. As a disciple of the net zero religion that would be blasphemy. An electric bike should suffice.
As for handing out reparations for our supposed forever wrong doings of the past, may we remind Milliband who took his family in.
July 22, 2026
Healey is chancellor. I wonder if there will be harmony between him and the Prime Minister?
On the one hand he claims he wants ‘fiscal discipline’, but he resigned because he wanted to spend more on defence.
Probably in post because he was not seen as a Starmerite and is allegedly popular amongst Labour MPs.
Burnham talks about ‘hope’ but his answers about funding are not convincing and he may give scope to loony mayors to throw even more money at things. Possibly a bit Micawberish – something will turn up.
July 22, 2026
Expecting liebour to reduce spending is for the fairies. Guyliner really believes he can outsmart the bond market.
We very much have Starmer Mk2 where we continue with the Chagos farrago, continue spending £billions on useless carbon capture and piss £billions down the foreign aid funnel.
We are led to believe Mahmood is doing a great job controlling immigration when it’s actually educated Brits leaving to be replaced by benefits scroungers who hate us.
No, very much same old, same old and o ly a few weeks before the Messiah is being ridiculed as the man without a plan.
July 22, 2026
‘ No, very much same old, same old and o ly a few weeks before the Messiah is being ridiculed as the man without a plan.’
He will never challenge Starmer for the number of abusive videos or football chants he generates. Burnham’s stock will soon fall though.
July 22, 2026
Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air, Professor MacKay (he was a Cambridge physicist/engineer) is a good introduction to the reality of the physics of renewables and the problem of insulation, storage, renewables. It is free online. Not that a bit more CO2 is really an emergency anyway.
July 22, 2026
Note also that wind turbines reduce wind levels and also this affect the climate. They also need rather high levels of fossil fuels to construct, connect up, back up and maintain so are very far from fossil fuel free or from Zero CO2 emissions.
July 22, 2026
Quite, the new Secretary for state for gas and electricity headed up the New Economic Foundation for several years before becoming an MP. Their numerous ramblings seem to be based on doctrine rather than behaviours.
Most economic theories falter as they do not take account of people’s own protectionist behaviours.
July 22, 2026
Sooner the Govt runs out of economic capital the better.
They have no self-control, they must be controlled.
July 22, 2026
I tend to agree that this mad Labour government will not cut government waste or expenditure until forced to so.
July 22, 2026
Do not borrow so much
Like asking junkies to use cocaine sparingly
July 22, 2026
+1 they have a scorched earth agenda.
July 22, 2026
They could start by passing a law to stop local councils from borrowing, and maybe in the future pass the same law upon themselves
July 22, 2026
Wes Streeting at Defence??? That one knocked me sideways, and I fear it will be an expensive exercise in making the armed services even more woke and unfit for purpose.
A more efficient use of personnel would have been Al Carns, or the drip that is Mike Tapp, surely. Efficient because they at least have military experience and that would I suspect help with better procurement and all round upgrading.
Just a thought, I could be very wrong of course.
July 22, 2026
Indeed I would have put Streeting back into Health, as at least he had some detailed background knowledge of the position, and should not have needed to go through a big learning curve.
July 22, 2026
@Michelle – its not about what’s needed, the Country. Its about who will ‘toe the line’ for the new Gang Boss
July 22, 2026
Good morning.
Let us see if this post makes it past moderation 😉
That all depends on the Labour backbenchers. None of them want to see cuts to their ‘client class’, and especially so close to a General Election. This for them is really the last of the rolling dice.
July 22, 2026
Sensible financial management by a Labour Government John ?
Just more sleight of hand in reality !
July 22, 2026
The problem and let’s be rude and insulting, the UK Parliament is seemingly full of ‘dumb-wits’ without experience or intelligence.
Money is simply the ‘seed corn’ of our lives of our future, to have it to spend the means to generate it is the first priority. Tax is not generating money it is the removal of it from the economy. Its removal kills the economy, the means to generate more, they down the drain spiral of Socialism.
Borrowing is not a problem, if at first you know the money borrowed is going to produce more money than the interest due. The UK Parliament in its infinite lack of wisdom always does the opposite to common sense and what is really needed, it jumps then destroys before destroying some more.
The highlight of the UK’s Parliament stupidity is NetZero and it typifies the ongoing ineptitude and inexperience of Parliament. They want to answer a question before knowing the question. NutZero is said to be going to cost to the UK ‘Taxpayer’ of £3trillion, that is £3trillion over and above the normal spending requirements. What did the ‘dumb-wits’ do? Their starting base was let’s cancel, remove the means to create the money, the seed-corn, everyone’s future. Did they look for viable sustainable alternatives – No. Did they ask how much will it cost – No. So, in general did they think before the on message political ideology ‘sound-bites’ – No.
It’s the same situation with borrowing, lets borrow, then borrow some more, then borrow to pay for the borrowing and not if we borrow to do ‘that’ what does ‘that net’ the taxpayer and how does that create tomorrow’s ‘seed-corn’. The UK Parliament are like hooked Gamblers crossing their fingers and hoping their luck may change. They are not planners – it’s not their money?
July 22, 2026
According to Hargreaves Lansdown, a 0.125% coupon gilt due to mature 31st Jan 2028 can be bought at £94.10 per £100. Putting that into a Moneysavingexpert calculator that is equivalent to a 5.31% savings interest on basic rate tax and 7.07% if you pay higher rate tax, because there is no CGT on gilt gains.
The point is, although the cost of maintaining government debt is really high, buy old gilts and those costs go back to you. Think of it as a tax relief.
If you’re prepared to wait, a 0.5% coupon gilt due to mature 22nd October 2061 can be bought for £22.78 per £100, so these low coupon gilts will be available for some time to come.
Totally agree government shouldn’t borrow so much. Time to stop giving benefits to foreigners.
July 22, 2026
So the ‘deck chairs’ have been shuffled, the extremist ideology of its every one else but them, stays is intact. The only half recognition is that committed ‘fraudsters’ that a corrupt parliament has allowed to stay was been asked although it part of their brief to not get involved when others are to be adjudged for ‘fraud’
The UK Parliament is scraping the barrel of creditability and pulling themselves down to the lowest level of corruption by design.
How can this Parliament when it has stooped so low even start to contemplate being the judge and jury of what could be wrong doing by Farage? Double standards writ ‘Large’ Political gerrymandering, all more important than the integrity of Parliament.
Yesterday the left-wing of the House of Lords lined up to block others from their desire to place their new power base, their new Gang Boss, their new Ruler under the scrutiny of being ‘questioned’ even in this place.
July 22, 2026
Let us hope some of the sound commercial ideas you list are considered by the Burnham team. As I said yesterday we must see the cut of his jib. Thus far he has presented as a dress down clown complete with Blue Peter badge and bracelets. IIt does not form a good professional image which may be why he is so appealing to the Labour fraternity, he makes them feel classy by setting the bar so low.
Image of course is not the be all and end all we need to see the substance and have to wait until October before a true engagement will begin. Hey ho at least he has guaranteed not to be the shortest term PM by his manoeuvre to keep out of Parliament for the first 49 days…..
July 22, 2026
Norway doesn’t have any national debt, maybe because they use UK north sea oil & gas …..we need to stop all borrowing
July 22, 2026
It is never going to reduce debt levels by more spend and more debt – even if it pleases some. Destroying industries that will no longer earn us income from abroad will only make wealth creation an impossibility, and wealth creation is the only real way we will get out of this hole.
If we had a government that was really interested in making Britain prosperous they would not be wasting so much on ideology and foreign concerns. They would achieve a vast reduction in the benefits bill, they would wipe away the heavy taxes now crippling businesses, they would throw proponents of net-0 into the north sea along with the so expensive subsidies pushing up energy costs.
Trouble is that we do not have a government that believes in Britain, instead we get soundbites and a dismantling of Westminster on the cards, all of which will just create more debt and misery.
July 22, 2026
All the previous extravagances are locked into the cost and continue increasing in annual expense. Government is wasteful in the extreme and add to the problem which is often ignored or regarded as invisible.
At one time, Conservatives were trying to show that they cut back so much that they removed Ministers’ use of chauffeur-driven cars. However, that was a waste of key persons’ valuable time or a negligible saving for the country. Worse, they had a photoshoot of Jeremy Hunt waiting alone at a bus stop in Victoria Street, as if that demonstrated cost efficiency! It was pathetic.
There are much more effective ways available. Start by cutting extreme waste.
Reply I agree cutting Ministerial cars was a false economy. I needed to use all my travel time to work so needed a driver. If the Minister works more and more effectively you need fewer staff. The car, driver and journey planning was one of the most important support services I needed.
July 22, 2026
The sleight of hand of the ‘£45 reduction per annum (but only for six months from October – see what he did there?).’
Allison Pearson in today’s DT
“The UK is among the most expensive countries in the world for household electricity. That’s due to reliance on imported wholesale gas and a higher proportion of “policy costs” and green levies which are furtively added to our bills to fund renewable infrastructure. Billions of pounds of British people’s hard-earned money is squandered subsidising Chinese solar panels, fitful windmills and Ed Miliband’s Croesus-rich eco-mates to make that criminally-deluded fantasy, net zero, look achievable. Call it a Luxury Belief tax, a fetish of the liberal elite funded by struggling families.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2026/07/21/struggling-voters-deserve-better-than-burnhams-con-tricks/