UK general government gross debt was £2,365.4 billion at the end of Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2022, equivalent to 99.6% of gross domestic product (GDP). UK general government deficit (or net borrowing) was £15.8 billion in Quarter 1 2022, equivalent to 2.6% of GDP. In 2022 British government debt rose to its highest level in almost 60 years. Government borrowing increased to 20 billion pounds in September, 2.2 billion pounds more than in September 2021 and 5.2 billion pounds more than forecast in March by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, the ONS said.
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@B455MPT1wk1W
Increase public spending and cut taxes during downturns and cut public spending and increase taxes during booms
No, this will negatively affect the economy. We should focus on ending tax evasion, and taxing the rich and large corporations more instead.
@B2KYLTFWomen's Equality2mos2MO
Yes, male led governments have allowed the national debt to grow out of control and establish an all-female expert committee on budgetary management
Remove useless Government Agencies and Jobs, remove funding from woke schools, remove the immigration benefits, abolish the welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish assemblies, 40% of all local councils, end all of the climate change policies, remove the minimum wage and maternity pay.
@9WY23SK5mos5MO
Reduce the salaries of government officials while also abolishsing tax evasion for the rich and decrease military spending
@9W9QX3V5mos5MO
No, increase increase taxes for large multinational corporations, introduce tougher laws on tax evasion, deceptive tax avoidance, reduce the number of government officials,
@9PFTT4610mos10MO
Obscene capitalism has caused more issues than anything. Corrupt contracts, obscene profiteering. Clamp down on that and fund the country.
@9PFLDLG10mos10MO
No, along with all of the above stances, reduce the benefits and salaries of highly paid government officials (e.g. those earning £150k or more, the continuous salary of previous serving PMs).
@9PCVHJZ10mos10MO
This is based on false economic understanding. There is nothing intrinsically problematic in the National debt - it is government spending which has not been taxed out of circulation I.e. it is the money in our pockets, bank account and savings. It has existed for over 300 years and somehow we have survived. What is relevant is does the spending improve the sustainability of the economy and its ability to maintain the well-being of citizens. Cutting public services impoverishes us all including businesses who need functioning infrastructure and thriving people to work and spend.
@9PCGLSSConservative10mos10MO
They should eliminate waste, overlapping, and unecessary groups, teams, leaders, and most especially equality and diversity teams in all public bodies. A public sector expert should review the operational integrity and spending of each department and body and initiate mandatory efficiency changes, without reducing the public purse. This will bring back millions which can then be used to increase public spending in a sensible way.
@AndrewS-Bucks 10mos10MO
No, the time is not right for cuts in spending, too many services are on the knees or failing completely, we need to agressively tackle waste, modernise, and save where we can do more with the same, and raise more if still needed
No, and instead implement measures to reduce military spending, end tax evasion, increase taxes on the rich and corporations to raise the funds
@9P8YLXC10mos10MO
Yes, stop pay for immigrants and audit councils and NHS in real time finding the corrupt high rollers
@9P7MTGPLiberal Democrat10mos10MO
This question is too vague. There's no guarantee that a cut to public spending reduces debt in the long term because of a knock-on effect on growth.
@9P6LYBDConservative10mos10MO
No, a whole reform package is required to reduce wasted spending with personal accountability for those who waste money, for example the NHS is well funded, but 100's of millions gets wasted on needless and stupid things
@9P3RK5T 10mos10MO
No, increase taxes on large corporations and on the wealthy, reduce military spending, and reduce benefits and salaries of government officials instead
@9NZTZTW10mos10MO
No, review where public spending will positively influence the economy and invest appropriately, as well as reducing tax evasion
@9NYTYQ8 10mos10MO
Focus on tax evasion. Reduce benefits and salaries of government officials and increase taxes on large multinational corporations
@9NYLWQH10mos10MO
No, tax the mega rich, tax large multimillion earning corporations, tax big polluters, remove tax loopholes to avoid exploitation
@9NG9XQZ10mos10MO
Yes, by looking at the standard of contracts the government is entering into with preferred suppliers
@9NCTJXV10mos10MO
No but money on public spending should be re-examined and re distributed to ensure that it is being properly allocated. This in turn will reduce the money needed for public spending.
@9NB7S2V10mos10MO
Public spending must be justified and prioritised. Regulation on CEO pay at large corporations must be controlled. Pay for politicians and all civil servants should be reviewed, particularly pensions.
@9N8P6NK10mos10MO
No, the government needs to go back and look at how it, the NHS and local councils are spending money. Remove middle management and posts that are not vital.
@9N7BFYR10mos10MO
No but ensure that public spending is cost effective and that the services provided are efficiently and economically run.
@9N6RXNW10mos10MO
No, focus on ending tax evasion and tax loopholes, increase taxes on the wealthy and increasing taxes on large multinationals instead
@9MY3GGR 10mos10MO
Yes, public spending should be reduced to exactly equal government revenue, and it should all be spent on the universal basic income programme
Deleted10mos10MO
Yes, eventually all public services should become privatised, and all welfare should be replaced with a Universal Basic Income programme funded by a Land Value Tax and Pigouvian Taxes, with government officials having to accept lower wages to maximise the programme
@9MWVX59Liberal Democrat10mos10MO
No but reduce spending on parliament luxuries - like the £17m in 2022 - and redirect it to public spending.
@9MTK33C10mos10MO
This is such a complex issue. But I imagne that public funds could be more efficiently used. Don't reduce spending, but reduce bureaucracy and wastage. And stupidly high salaries for DEI officers in the NHS. I mean, seriously?!
@9MS7JVS10mos10MO
Get public services running much more efficiently - like the NHS in which millions is wasted. My sister works for the NHS in procurement and sees the wastage and huge spending. My other sister is a senior manager for what was PHE (now UKHSA).
@9MNY2JH10mos10MO
No, focus on ending tax evasion, increase tax on the wealthy and reduce the number of high position government officials instead
@9M39D4S11mos11MO
Public spending needs increasing, but should be complimented and suplimented by the reduction of tax evasion, benefit fraud, corp and wealthy taxes, fatcat payments and gross overpayment on wages
No and increase tax on wealthy and multinational companies and end tax evasion and non don status loopholes for the Uber wealthy
@9LXMPFJ11mos11MO
It doesn't feel like any money is being spent on public services... public organizations are the worst i've ever seen them!
@9LS523411mos11MO
Yes, on things like foreign assistance, but not education, NHS, public transport, military. Check benefit spending I'm sure there are loads of people who are exploiting the system.
No increase taxes on the rich and corporations eliminate loopholes, reduce corrupt foreign aid and reduce Mp salary and benefits in line with average or minimum wage.
@9LNSGGB12mos12MO
yes, by reducing salaries of officials. also tax corporations and reduce military spending for a more mixed solution
@9LH5NBG12mos12MO
debt for capital infrastructure is good. Not for anything else, so depends on what we're going in to debt for.
@9LG823B12mos12MO
No, increase tax on large corporations, close tax loops and increase tax slightly across all brackets bit significantly for richer brackets.
@9KB6HK21yr1Y
I believe there is a nuance to where money is spent, military spending would be good to be upped in the modern day, but there should be less spending on departments that benefits a certain group.
@9JW8S551yr1Y
Generally no, the government needs to spend more in R&D to increase productivity and increasing rates of entrepreneurship to increase tax revenues.
@9JTMLXT1yr1Y
No, increase taxes on the rich, end tax evasion and increase taxes on large multinational corporations.
@9GPZWFR1yr1Y
no. end tax evasion, increase tax on the wealthy, increase tax on corporations. Increase public spending, its the bedrock of a stable economy.
@9FZPHCW1yr1Y
No focus on cutting Foreign aid and military spending first before cutting essential public services that Citizens need to use daily
@9FV53681yr1Y
Reduce Government salaries, reduce military spending, tax the rich, increase taxes on multinationals
@9FJZ92G2yrs2Y
No, the government should create nationalised services to compete with private companies with the profit supplementing government budgets.
@9FJDTR32yrs2Y
Yes but focus on cutting welfare before all other services
@9FDZHZN2yrs2Y
Revise foreign spending to countries that don't require funding
@9DQ5V3T2yrs2Y
No, focus on eradicating the corruption and the loopholes
@9DNKNMB2yrs2Y
I think an increase to military spending and a reduction in bureaucratic operation is need. Government officials should take massive pay cuts and their staff should be slashed
@9D7GRBK2yrs2Y
No, consistent with the Modern Monetary Theory framework
@9D76PBH2yrs2Y
Depends on the severity of the national debt
@9D579WW2yrs2Y
No debts so big nothing we can do can pay it off
@9D3SWV62yrs2Y
No, reduce military spending, end tax evasion, and increase taxation on large multinational corporations.
@9QR5WPN9mos9MO
No cuts to public spending. Review inefficiencies in government spending. Raising taxes could improve services for all.
@9QN4QD39mos9MO
No, reduce military funding and increase the tax on large multinational corporations while focusing on ending tax evasion.
@9QMLNT69mos9MO
No, benefits on people who are not working, but are able to, should be cut and that could go to the national debt.
@9QLNJ989mos9MO
Decrease the wages of politicians (as they have given themselves massive payrises) and increase tax on large multinational corporations and by increasing tax for the top 1% of earners
@9QKHV5Y9mos9MO
No, taxes should be increased for corporations and citizens earning above a certain amount. Foreign spending should be cut
@9QK3MXT9mos9MO
No, improve efficiency within the public sector by improving procurement processes and refine job roles
@9QFVP899mos9MO
Public spending should be less wasteful / current level is fine if delivering good value and good outcomes
@9Q98P7J9mos9MO
No, reform the welfare state and reduce foreign aid to only help less fortunate countries suffering from a natural disaster. No funding space programs or suchlike.
@9Q953CS9mos9MO
No, but it's about priorities - things, we as a nation, spend money on can be questionable. We should have a non-political body that is paid for by a fixed income from the nation and who's remit is to decide on the nations interests. Strong rules on money, composition, terms, etc. would be needed but largely, it should be free from political interference.
@9PRBTSB9mos9MO
Stop money being wasted, stop big business tax evasion, abolish house of lords, try to end political corruption
@9PQ4Q6J9mos9MO
No, focus on tax evasion, invest for growth and stop paying public officials 30% pensions. Having that would save millions if not billions, and it would still be 150% better than the private sector.
@9PNVD4W9mos9MO
There needs to be a mixture of finding tax avoiders and increasing taxes on the wealthy/ corporations etc and finding savings.
@9PH8ZXD10mos10MO
No, and taxes should be broadly increased including reform of council tax rates and the introduction of a carbon tax.
No, ex-prime ministers should not be given large pay checks, there should be fewer government officials and tax evasion should be investigated too
@9NKKMRQIndependent10mos10MO
Government needs to cut unnecessary spending and allocate more funds to increase wages for NHS staff.
@9MZXYGX 10mos10MO
By reducing public spending it will inevitably make situations worse for the emergency services, NHS etc... We need to focus on issues such as financial crime and fraud whereby massive amounts of funds are being left in the hands of criminal which could be recovered and used towards the debt
@9L392Z2Conservative 1yr1Y
Increase military spending due to the threat faced by our nation at the present moment from Russia, Iran, China and North Korea.
@9KX6KCH1yr1Y
No, but increase tax on the wealthy, large multinational corporations and cut the pay of government officials
A balance of a reduction of spending and focus on ending tax evasion should help to reduce the national debt, once it is a manageable level increase spending again
No, but inefficiencies in schools, national and local civil service and NHS should be removed, e.g Royal Mail should not be used for sending out hospital appointments
@9NW5RYC10mos10MO
Plug loopholes, no hiding in Ireland like Amazon and others. We do have too many government officials
@9NN522Q10mos10MO
No, focus on tax evasion, increase tax on the wealthy and increase taxes on multinational corporations as well.
@9Q3DTQ59mos9MO
Yes, but by cutting subsidies, especially those that are environmentally harmful or economically useless or harmful.
@9PZJYLM9mos9MO
no cuts to public spending, reduce national depts by looking at government inefficiencies across all government offices as well as the NHS
@9PWZQWZ9mos9MO
It is crucial how money from the government is spent. If debt level is high, cutting public spending doesn't necessarily help reducing debt to GDP. Public spending must target mission-oriented policies that benefit the collectivity (i.e. tackle climate change, etc.)
@9PWBNRS9mos9MO
I favour increases in taxes for a set period with the revenue ring-fenced for the reduction of the national debt and an aim to get it to between 33-50% of GDP.
@8GRP98V4yrs4Y
Yes but focus on tax evasion
Yes, and increase taxes on the rich as well
@9BRQMBR2yrs2Y
No, increase the taxes on large multinational corporations and end tax evasion instead.
No, focus on ending tax evasion, and increase taxes on wealthy and multinationals
@9B2Z79L2yrs2Y
No, Instead drastically reducing the benefits and salaries of government officials, increase taxes on the wealthy and on large multinational corporations instead
@9B2VL2J2yrs2Y
Reduce benefits and salaries of the government, focus on ending tax evasion and increase taxes on the wealthy and large corporations instead
@96BTK3Y2yrs2Y
Increase tax on deathly, get tax from multinationals, stop tax evasion
@964GYTM2yrs2Y
No, corporation tax should be increased to 25% and greater focus placed on combatting tax evasion.
@93R58RD3yrs3Y
Yes, but also end tax evasion
@93Q3QZ33yrs3Y
No, MP's amd party leaders, including the prime minister should take a pay cut. There is no need for the wages they are on while nurses are on substantially less
Yes, but in areas where the government is overspending
@93B253P3yrs3Y
No, reduce military spending, increase tax on large multinational corporations, and increase taxes on rich instead
@92ZZKFJConservative3yrs3Y
No, grow the economy instead.
@92R9BT93yrs3Y
Yes, but only where it reduce waste, save taxpayers and wouldn't negatively impact the economy.
@92Q426M3yrs3Y
No, they should take cuts from their own wages first
@92K3S4N3yrs3Y
i would like to eliminate the lower class
No. Loop holes and tax evaders should be dealt with
@92GGL8R3yrs3Y
No, we should direct funding away from the police, army, banks, and corporations to reduce the national debt.
@92FXBBK3yrs3Y
No, reduce military spending , focus on ending tax evasion, increase taxes on the wealthy, increase taxes on large multinational corporations
@92FWVQVConservative3yrs3Y
Sort out welfare and stop wasting money on more and more handouts for lazy citizens
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