Question
Last week, the Chancellor had his chance to get debt under control. Instead, the Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed that it will rise—every single year. It is another missed opportunity. The national debt is now the equivalent of £100,000 for every household. It is why we recently had the highest borrowing costs for 30 years. As a result of the Chancellor’s policies, the Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates this week. Will he now admit that it is his failure to get a grip on borrowing that will be causing rates to rise?
Answer
The Budget confirms that borrowing will fall every year during the next period. Debt will start falling from 2028-29. The hon. Gentleman is right that we inherited a debt mountain. We inherited that as part of the consequence of the disastrous mini-Budget that he was part of in the Treasury team. It crashed the economy and it collapsed confidence in Britain’s fiscal strength. We are fixing his failures. The chief investment strategist for L&G said this week that our Budget makes the UK “the adult in the room when it comes to fiscal discipline.” The Conservatives have learned nothing. Their latest policies represent over £30 billion in unfunded tax cuts, with the wealthiest benefiting most. With Labour, we have got support for families; under the Tories, it is a return to the—55% point-scoring
Verdict: AMBER (30/100)
The reply responds to the question's subject, government borrowing and debt, and gives some concrete figures, including that borrowing is set to fall each year and debt to start falling from 2028-29. However, it never says whether borrowing is driving up interest rates, which was the central point the question asked the Chancellor to accept or reject. Because the answer stays general on that point, the person who asked would likely need to submit a follow-up to get a clear response.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the Chancellor accepts that his failure to get a grip on government borrowing is causing interest rates to rise. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply engages with government borrowing and debt, offering concrete points that borrowing will fall every year and debt will start falling from 2028-29, and it rebuts the charge of a failure to get a grip through the inherited-debt and fiscal-discipline statements. It never addresses whether borrowing is driving up interest rates, which is the causal claim the question asks the Chancellor to accept or reject, so the item is only partly answered. |