UK NEWS ALARM AS DEBT SOARS BY £20BN IN A MONTH
Tory George Osborne
Saturday December 19,2009
By Gabriel Milland LABOUR’S giant debt binge meant public borrowing in November totalled £20.3billion – an all-time high for a single month.
The unprecedented sum means the Treasury needed to borrow roughly £800 for every British household last month just to keep the Government ticking over, the new Office for National Statistics figures showed yesterday.
Yet despite net borrowing rocketing to £106.4billion since April, some economists breathed a sigh of relief having feared November’s borrowing could go as high as £23billion.
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne accused Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling of failing to make much-needed cuts and instead trying to bribe voters ahead of the General Election.
He said: “Gordon Brown is maxing out on the nation’s credit card – and doesn’t care how we are going to repay these debts.
“The price of keeping Gordon Brown in office is clear. Higher interest rates, higher youth unemployment and families being squeezed.”
Yesterday’s figures showed that the Treasury’s tax take was down by £1billion on the same month a year ago while spending jumped by more than £3billion to £50.3billion.
Nearly a third of the spending went on benefits like Jobseeker’s Allowance which hit £16.2billion. Meanwhile, the public sector payroll increased by 23,000 in just the last three months, reaching a record six million.
David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “The Government must be more explicit in its plans. An immediate freeze to the public sector wage bill would enhance credibility.”
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/146923/Alarm-as-debt-soars-by-20bn-in-a-month
UK NEWSUK’S PAYOUTS TO EU RISE THANKS TO BLAIR
UK’s payouts to EU rise thanks to Blair
Saturday December 19,2009
By Daily Express Reporter THE EU will spend a record £110billion in 2010, a six per cent increase on this year.
As much as half the cash will subsidise farmers in countries including France.
And Britain’s input will soar – rising by almost 60 per cent to £6.4billion next year.
This extra drain on taxpayers is because of a deal Tony Blair made in 2005 giving up much of Britain’s “rebate” in return for reform of the wasteful Common Agricultural Policy.
France has blocked attempts to reform the CAP – but Britain still has to pay extra.
Big EU sums are also set to go on extra aid for former Warsaw Pact countries in Eastern Europe.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/146904/UK-s-payouts-to-EU-rise-thanks-to-Blair
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/146904/UK-s-payouts-to-EU-rise-thanks-to-Blair