The UK has borrowed too much money, has a massive debt - £105 billion goes on paying our debt interest

[cakeorwine]

A good visual guide from the Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2025/mar/24/visual-analysis-how-the-markets-boxed-in-rachel-reeves

But basically, the UK has had to rely on borrowing money as it spends more than it brings in.

It has borrowed money at low interest rates - but these rates have increased.

£105 billion on servicing debt interest. When you are borrowing a lot of money, even a small change in the interest level will massively increase the actual amount of money we need to pay on interest

Some context from the OBR on the budget

https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/brief-guides-and-explainers/public-finances/

Income: £1149 billlion
Spending: £1276 billion
Of which £104 billion is on interest payments
Deficit: £127 billion

We need either more income, less spending and reduced interest payments.

It wasn't just underinvestment by government private companies also didn't invest enough. Also we have too much regional differences with high productivity concentrated in London where it should be spread across other cities. We need a radical change really & more long term thinking as this will take years to change.

Lockdown definitely made the economy worse and was way overblown. Just seen how Sweden avoided it

I heard someone wanting change in electric pricing market on Radio 4 PM - suggesting that we have cheaper electricity where it's produced often in poorer areas rather than building massive infrastructure to transport it across UK we could try encouraging though price things like data centers who use a lot to those areas and kick start those areas.

Lockdown definitely made the economy worse and was way overblown. Just seen how Sweden avoided it

That may be the case but it's pointless to compare is to Sweden and we don't know what impact the alternative would have had.

Brexit also damaged the economy but fundamentally we never recovered from 08

I'm fine with the welfare cuts tbf. The welfare state is too big and too generous. I assume it's one of the reasons UK productivity is lagging.

The NI policies have stalled growth and Labour were relying on that. Putting a tax on work was counter productive.

As for welfare cuts and other cuts I guess we’ll see whether Labour’s version is different in some way.

That was the Agent blurb not mine! I suspect there are major defects in the property and for once they are being honest!

Why is this in Am I Being Unreasonable?

We need immigration due to the falling birth rate. A lot of this is due to the extortionate cost of childcare (which is why we need capital investment into building state nursery schools that could be ran like the private sector (I.e. core hours completely free but a charge for wraparound and holidays. Any profits to be reinvested into education).

@EasternStandard would you have increased income tax instead?

We don't need mass immigration. Even if the economic arguments are beneficial there's a negative impact on society and culture.

The Boriswave was a big mistake that happened under him

Other countries didn’t string it out for months and months and months, and they didn’t slow the return to normality by frightening the pants off the public. We were an outlier for this.

Regardless our growth was crap before covid.

"Mass immigration" - this loaded phrase does not help look at the realities. I have been in hospital several times over the last year and without these immigrants I would be dead now.

Lockdown cost a load and was totally essential. In fact it was too little too late.

I am all for government borrowing more and spending more - how else will we have the services and infrastructure we need?

We were talking about young people in twenties wanting to buy a house not older ones who have elderly parents.

You might be surprised how much looking after children in care cost.

You might be surprised how much looking after children in care cost.

Are these all orphans? 🤔

This.

This is the biggest problem we have. Thatcher sold our assets. She one of our most popular PMs. We've loved the Tories. Voted them in mostly. Fools who've no hope of benefitting from a Tory government have lapped it up. People voted for Brexit, again mostly by those who have most to lose. Here we are. We voted for this. This is the consequence of poor voting.

Maybe look at the population of Sweden compared to the UK? Also the general nature of the Swedes themselves - do you really think it would have worked?

Who get to be the arbiter what is bad for for society? What metrics are we using? Is it anyone who you perceive has more than you?

But we can afford someone else's war and a pay rise for the MPs

OR we could hire within our borders first THEN source from outside we have unemployed doctors and nurses in the UK and we are hiring from overseas? Why are we not prioritising our home trained staff

What do you mean?

Because if someone's qualifications and performance at interview are better, then they must have the job, regardless of race, skin colour, where they were trained etc.

You are forgetting an unproductive society, Some people are earning more in benefits than they would be paid if they were getting a fair market rate for their skills.