General · 29 minutes ago
UK national debt passes £3tn for first time
Ferdi2005 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Debt interest cost the government £10.9bn in September, the highest for that month on record, with higher inflation adding £4bn of it, according to the ONS. Prices rose 3.5% in the year to September, up from 3.1% in August, mainly due to dearer petrol and diesel. Chancellor John Healey now faces a £24.5bn monthly deficit, £1.9bn worse than forecast, before his first Budget next Wednesday.
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