So this was the Recession Budget surprise: a seven-year horizon with no debt repayment plan. Ha! Bet you didn’t expect that. Britain is to be transformed from a low-debt country into a nation saddled with a wartime debt without having fought a war. And as for today’s Brownie – it’s one the Stern Review used: fake juxtaposition. Brown presents the splurge (or splutter: £9.2bn this year, £16.3bn next) on one hand. And on the other, tax rises for the rich. He wants newspapers to write that one somehow cancels out the other. But it doesn’t: he has no plans to fund his extra spending. He’ll just keep borrowing. Debt will keep rising from £537bn in 2007-08 rising to £1,020 in 2012-13. Darling says it will peak then, but only as a share of GDP. It will rise to £1,080bn in 2013-14 (all excluding NR, B&B etc). Then: pow. His crystal ball runs out.
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