Ross Clark: Britain is heading for a debt crisis

‘The basis of this crisis is a very fundamental truth: it is politically easier to spend money than it is to raise it.’

This week on The Capitalist, Marc Sidwell speaks with veteran journalist Ross Clark about his new book, Britain is Bust: The coming sovereign debt crisis and what it will mean for you.

Debt interest cost the UK taxpayer £109 billion last year, no government has balanced the books in a quarter of a century and long-dated gilt yields have broken 6%. Clark argues the country faces a choice: cut spending now, on our own terms, or have far deeper cuts imposed by the bond markets, as Greece did in 2010.

They discuss why he thinks neither tax rises nor a growth strategy built on public spending can get us out of the hole, why welfare and the state pension can’t be off limits, and why Clark would cut the state pension by 10% to unwind the effect of the triple lock. Then they turn to the politics: why he doesn’t expect this Labour government to take a penny off welfare, why both the Conservatives’ and Reform UK’s plans fall short and whether voters can still be persuaded to back fiscal responsibility, as they did in 2010.