Labour government debt - separating fact from fiction...

[sidicks]

Can anyone help provide some reliable data to identify the change in the UK debt during the time of the last Labour administration?

- The Conservatives will suggest that government borrowing increased significantly over the period, leaving us in the current situation with £50bn p.a. spent on interest and the AAA credit rating at stake unless drastic cuts are made
- The Labour government used PFI to ‘hide’ debt off balance sheet
- Increases to public sector wages and employees increased the cost of public sector pensions considerably over the period, leading to a current liability of £3+ trillion

The Labour supporters will argue that:

- Debt as a % of GDP fell from 42% in 1997 to 29% in 2002 and was as low as 36% prior to the current crisis
- Increases since then are solely due to bailing out the banks etc
- Additionally, Tory policy would have broadly matched Labour spending during the ‘good times’

So, I guess what I'm looking for to support the discussion is:

- Value of “off balance sheet” debt in 1997, split between public sector pensions, state pension and other financing
- Value of “off balance sheet” debt in 2010, split between public sector pensions, state pension and other financing (PFI etc)
- Amount of “on balance sheet” debt in May 2010 (including and excluding bank bailouts)

Can anyone point to reliable data and add any useful comments to the above?

Thanks

Sidicks

[NoelWatson]

sidicks said:

Can anyone help provide some reliable data to identify the change in the UK debt during the time of the last Labour administration?

Don't forget personal debt

[sidicks]

NoelWatson said:

Don't forget personal debt

Important, but a separate issue!

Sidicks

[sidicks]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Tonker - I agree with your sentiments, but I'm looking for data to see if that view can credibly be supported. I think it's easy for opponents to say that debt was fairly level at 40% or lower as a percentage of GDP until those "nasty bankers caused all the problems..."

Clearly the published debt is only one part of the story!


Sidicks

[Sticks.]

You may find some useful data here http://www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp with a bit of rummaging.

[sidicks]

Sticks. said:

You may find some useful data here http://www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp with a bit of rummaging.

Yes thanks - This is a useful link for the published debt, but I'm not sure it is very helpful for the published debt, particularly the amount of PFI etc.

Any ideas where total PFI financing information is available?

Sidicks

[JagLover]

The big issue with Labour's legacy is not the debt at such, which, even after the costs of the bank bailouts, was not massively high by historical standards, but the deficit.

Which was at a level unkown in the UK's peacetime history, and is quickly ratcheting up the level of debt.