Just a few numbers about UK finances

A selection of plus and minuses to get things in perspective:

INCOME +

Annual spend on alcohol £54bn, gives duty and tax revenue of...?
Income tax £152bn
Cuts to public spending +£60bn
National Insurance ...?

MINUSES-

UK tax avoidance £25bn
UK Defence £40bn
Trident £104bn (!!!)
NHS cost £102bn
Cost of credit crisis £400bn
UK debt interest £45bn

DEBT SIZES

Government £867bn
Mortgages £1300bn
Credit cards £340bn

Government debt costs £95000 per household, add to this mortgage and credit card debt of £55000 per household. We are seriously in debt.

And then you have to add the debt of the PFI initiatives, you know build it now, pay later, this adds £375bn. Then you have to add the liability for public sector pensions... and the liability for mortgage securities of £500bn.

Government net debt (borrowing) was around £35bn or 29% of GDP in 2000, and the Labour government set a target that it must not rise above 40% of GDP. However by 2007 it had risen to 37% of GDP, and in 2010 was 64% of GDP or 149bn, said to be due to recession and bailout of banks... both of which could have been avoided - recession by maintaining productive industry and banks by letting them go bust (as they did in USA, eg Lehman).

INDUSTRY AS SHARE OF GDP

1995 20%
2005 13%

... a collapse of productive industry, no way this 13% can pay for all Labour's social spending.