Running costs

You’re probably estimating what it costs to live my gilded lifestyle in central London. Not that you’d be in the least bit interested, but I really do have fairly simple tastes. I’m talking about running the country – and its borrowings, to be precise. Latest data for Q1 2018 shows UK sovereign debt stands at £1.78 trillion, or 86 per cent of GDP. Servicing this cost £48 billion over the fiscal year, equivalent to 4 per cent of GDP. Cumulative debt is a lot higher than the average 43 per cent debt/GDP since 1975, and four times the 1991 low point of 21 per cent.

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