CAN WE ESCAPE OUR FISCAL BLACK HOLE?

As Kemi Badenoch introduces a new 'economic golden rule' to tackle Britain's £2.9trillion debt pile, three experts outline how worried we should be about the prospect of national bankruptcy

- Harvey Jones Personal Finance Editor

BRITAIN is clearly living beyond its means. So could we go bankrupt? It certainly looks like we're heading that way. Our national debt now stands at £2.9trillion that's almost the same as our entire annual economic output. And it's rocketed from about 40% in 2008, thanks to the financial crisis, the Conservatives' failed austerity measures and the huge expense of the pandemic.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch yesterday outlined her "economic golden rule" to save the UK economy from its spiralling debt, saying her party had identified £47billion in savings, while pledging to put half the amount towards reducing the deficit.

Ms Badenoch added: "With the rest, we will get Britain growing and bring down the taxes that are stifling our economy."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed she inherited a £22billion black hole from the Tories and promised to close it by hiking taxes. But it has only widened on her watch. Today, as the economy slows and spending pressures rise, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research puts the shortfall at more than £41.2billion.

Reeves will struggle to balance the books in her upcoming Budget on November 26 and she is likely to resort to more tax hikes. Accountancy group KPMG has already warned of a decade of higher taxes.

Yet many economists, particularly on the Left, scoff at claims that Britain is about to go bust. Their argument is simple: because we issue our own currency, the UK can always print money to cover its debts.

That's true. The Bank of England can bail us out, as it has in the past - but that's no free pass. Money printing, or quantitative easing, carries serious costs and already sets us back £22billion a year, as the Bank sells back the bonds it bought at a loss.