Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Brown’s new plan to bring down the debt

I am hearing that Brown is to make up his own debt measurement, after losing a battle to have Northern Rock struck from the official national debt. It will be used in the pre budget report, exclude Northern Rock, and would show the figure Harman gave in PMQs today, national debt falling from 43 percent to 37 percent. It sounds implausible; it is one thing to fiddle your own golden rule, another to produce a fake national debt series so you can get around an ONS ruling. So I am treating this rumour with suspicion. I mean, he couldn’t. Could he?

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