In last week’s Journal, John Glen and the TaxPayers’ Alliance have been raising the issue of the national debt with a clear implication that it is unsustainable and is bad for the British Economy.

This is complete and utter nonsense and I think it would be helpful for your readers to understand what the national debt is and why it is good for the British Economy and not bad. 

Firstly, the valuation of the national debt is incorrect due to mal-accounting by the Office for National Statistics.

(Image: TaxPayers' Alliance)

They have included Quantitative Easing debt and Covid debt into the gross national debt. Q.E and Covid debt were funded by the Bank of England creating the money. 

Since you cannot by definition owe yourself money then to claim that these sums of created money are outstanding as part of the national debt makes literally no sense at all. 

The real national debt is around £1.62 trillion and not £2.6 trillion as is claimed. 

It is more helpful  to understand the national debt in terms of it being a savings scheme in which the UK government offers a range of very popular savings products from gilts to premium bonds and all of these are sustainable in their current forms. 

The National Debt is a fundamental pillar of the British economy and if we didn’t maintain it then private pension funds would struggle with their payments to pensioners and insurance companies would not be able to offer policy holders the security they currently enjoy.

National Savings and Premium Bonds would disappear.

Can we please have some honesty from both the Tories, Labour and economists about the national debt and will they stop trying to frighten people with Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics. 

Tim Rowe

Lower Bemerton

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