Another breathtaking Brownie at the Prime Minister’s press conference today:
“I have to say we face this situation with relatively low national debt because of the steps we have taken since 1997, where we wiped off perhaps more than around £100 billion of debt by reducing the proportion of debt in our national income.”
Huh? The ONS is unequivocal: net debt was £351bn in May 1997 and £632bn in August – or £545bn if you exclude Northern Rock. So where is his “wiping out” of £100 billion? Normally with a Brownie you can see how he cooked up the fake figure. But this time, it really does look like he just made it up.
Consider this for a moment. As Brown chastises bankers for dishonest off balance sheet accounting, he is concocting figures live on national television.
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