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A Tory minister was left squirming after being shown how the UK has one of the highest national debts in the world.
Appearing on Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News, Victoria Atkins, the financial secretary to the Treasury, was shown a graph demonstrating how badly Britain is performing compared to 42 other countries.
It revealed that the UK has the third worst deficit – the difference between government spending and income – and the fourth highest debt.
Ridge said: “You talk about sound money under the Conservatives and we can have a little look at the global comparison of the deficit and also debt levels.
“And you can see here how the UK is doing. This is a chart from the [Office for Budget Responsibility] showing there’s 42 other countries around the world.
“We’ve got the third worst deficit and when it comes to debt levels we’ve got the fourth worst debt. Is this really sound money under the Conservatives?”
Atkins said the figures were “precisely why we are having to make difficult decisions” and why bringing down the debt was one of Rishi Sunak’s five promises to voters.
But Ridge hit back: “You were talking a moment ago about Covid and the war in Ukraine and how that’s impacted on the economy in the UK.
“Well it’s also impacted these other 42 economies as well. Why are we doing so badly?”
Atkins said the UK was “particularly badly exposed” to international gas prices, which had driven up inflation.
The prime minister has pledged to bring down the national debt, grow the economy and halve inflation, as well as cut NHS waiting lists and stop the boats carrying migrants across the Channel.
However, he has made virtually no progress on any of the promises since making them with great fanfare six months ago.
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