Round numbers should be no more interesting or enlightening than any other. But the revelation that Britain’s debt has hit 100 per cent of GDP is unlikely to lift the sense of gloom that has already settled above Whitehall.
The last time public sector net stood at 100 per cent of annual economic output, the year was 1961 and Harold Macmillian was in Downing Street. Critically, borrowing levels were coming down, following the blood and treasure spilled defeating Nazism during the Second World War. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to say the last time UK debt was above 100 per cent of GDP and still rising was March 1947.
