BBC R4 take note the deficit is not the national debt !

Man in a Shed must be nurturing a heart condition that the BBC has secretly discovered and is trying to push over the edge. from What else can explain their transposing the spin and line-du-jourMandelson about reducing the deficit and have them announcing that Labour will reduce the National debt.

They are two different, although related things.

The Deficit is the amount the country's spending exceeds its income over one year.

The National Debt is absolute and is a product of the historical deficits and occasional budget surpluses in the past.

So BBC pay attention..... and save me having to risk high blood pressure shouting at the radio.

If I halve the deficit the National debt continues to go up each year.

Have you got that ?

It is not true that if you promise to halve the deficit sometime in the future that you are promising to halve the national debt ! ( Not that we'd believe Labour even if they said so ! )

Labour are just promising to sell our children into debt slavery at a slightly slower rate, not to redeem them.