I hate to pick up this subject again but, despite the signs in recent months of "recovery", an article by Philip Collins in today's Times predicts very much pain yet to come. Amongst the general tenor of his article, which emphasises that we are still living way beyond our means, he says "governing after 2015 is going to be so horrible that I wouldn't wish it on my worst political opponents" - this because of the national debt which despite the austerity measures of the present coalition (which have caused such howls - however justified) continues to grow. That is, we continue to spend more than we earn ...
I read recently that the national debt now represents some £26,000 for every man, woman and child in the country as opposed to the £17,000 per head which I last quoted ( I can't vouch for the exactness of these figures but it is clear that we're hugely in debt - and of course no-one is going to pay our debts off for us). And Collins in his article points out that just paying the interest on our national debt is costing more than we spend annually on our schools, which I find a frightening thought and which perhaps puts the real meaning of our debt into perspective.
I'm not an economist, still less a politician, so have no easy answers to our shared national problem - but clearly they don't either! But my home economics doesn't allow me to spend more than I've got coming in monthly and I'm absolutely clear that the country can't either. Nor, if I've got in a financial muddle, is some fairy godmother going to appear and bail me out.
So how the hell do we get out of it? Obviously by either cutting expenditure or increasing taxes. Someone please tell me (and the government) just how to do this fairly ...
Tony.
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