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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Andy Beckett

As dark financial clouds gather, Labour has to heed its past: when it chooses austerity, it loses elections

Former Labour chancellor Denis Healey outside No 11 Downing Street.
Former Labour chancellor Denis Healey outside No 11 Downing Street. Photograph: PA

Britain is in danger of going bankrupt. It may happen slowly or quickly, but since Labour took office this possibility has increasingly been promoted and discussed in the press, by opposition parties and in the City of London.

What exact form will this bankruptcy take? The prophets of doom tend to be vague about the timescale, but more certain about the cause of the coming meltdown: the state spending too much, generally on people who have little.

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