Although some of the facts and figures on this site are now out of date, the arguments and explanations should be as relevant today as they were back in June 2009, when this site was created.
The UK national debt clock is still ticking fast. We already owe more than £900 billion to investors at home and abroad. The Government says our debt will hit £1,043 billion by April 2011 and £1.2 trillion just one year later. Yes, that really is £1,216,000,000,000.
To pay this year's £43 billion interest bill, every household will stump up more than £1,800 in tax. That's not a joke - that really is how much it's going to cost you. The UK's national debt has become so astronomical that it's hard to make sense of it anymore.
But in this economic climate it's never been more important to understand how politicians spend our money and why they're running up huge debts on our behalf. This unprecedented level of public debt in peacetime has huge implications for Britain's economy and our future. Hopefully this site can begin to answer your questions.