The UK’S national debt would stand at £8.6 trillion if it were to include all of the UK government’s liabilities, according to new research from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA).
The group has today issued a new report calling on the government to report the “real” national debt by changing the way it measures the figure.
According to the TaxPayers Alliance, the debt should also include liabilities in relation to unfunded pensions, the Private Finance Initiative and nuclear decommissioning, among other items.
But Philip Booth at the Institute of Economic Affairs said: “The government national debt only takes account of past borrowing and takes no account at all of financial commitments the government has made to future generations.”
However, the EY’s Martin Beck said such a calculation would require the inclusion of public assets which “would have the opposite effect and reduce the levels of national debt”.
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