stephen corless

Pierce: 'The total national debt has soared to a record £2.58 trillion. The annual cost to the taxpayer of servicing this gargantuan sum, thanks to rising interest rates, is eye-watering. It was £60.8 billion under Truss but has risen to £110.8 billion on Sunak's watch. The question, therefore, arises: who has been proved right, Truss or the Blob? Ewen Stewart, of Walbrook Economics, is depressed about the prospects for the UK economy. 'The Government has not only raised taxes to a 70-year post-war high, but they have markedly raised spending. The public sector is now 47 per cent of the economy as there has been a huge expansion of the state, crowding out the private sector,' he said. He makes another crucial point. 'The tax cuts — cancelling the corporation tax rise, cutting the top rate of income tax and cutting the basic rate — were small beer compared to the public money spent on lockdown.' The National Audit Office estimated this figure at £370 billion but that excludes the negative impact on the economy of people who never returned to work.' mol.im/a/12497589 via @MailOnline