Explaining Cameron’s debt u-turn

“Millionaire David Cameron wants you to pay off your credit card – are you going to obey the Prime Minister?” asked one local BBC radio station phone-in this morning. This is not what No. 10 had in mind when releasing selective quotes from his speech last night. “The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That means households – all of us – paying off the credit card and store card bills.” This line in his speech is now being rapidly rewritten – and for good reason. Because the Prime Minister was in danger of making a major mistake.
 
The premise of the now-never-to-be-delivered quote is incorrect. The British public actually are paying down their debts, while the British government is vastly increasing its borrowing. Here, Treasury figures show what’s really happening:
 

 
So the Prime Minister would have been in dangerous territory had he made out as if he was the doctor, advising a debt-addicted patient to cut down.