In 5 Years, UK Will Be Spending More On Interest Than Schools, Climate, And Transport Combined

Joe Weisenthal
Business Insider
June 7, 2010

In support of his “bloodbath” austerity budget, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is laying out some stark budgetary math in a speech right now.

The Guardian’s live blog catches this juicy tidbit:

Based on the calculations of the last government, in five years’ time the interest we are paying on our debt is predicted to be around £70bn. That is a simply staggering amount.  No wonder the previous government refused to publish the information.

Let me explain what it means. Today we spend more on debt interest than we do on running schools in England. But £70bn means spending more on debt interest than we currently do on running schools in England plus climate change plus transport.  Interest payments of £70bn mean that for every single pound you pay in tax, 10 pence would be spent on interest.

More to come as warranted…

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