Government Borrowing

Any Government should take a prudent view of Government borrowing. But it is wholly wrong to suggest that prudent borrowing is the same as slavish adherence to the rules laid down by the Conservative Government for compliance with the arbitrary targets they have set for the public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR) — not least because the PSBR is, itself, such an inadequate measurement. We need something better. In this chapter the indicators that the next Labour Government will use as the basis of our borrowing policy are set out. No-one doubts the need for the use of such indicators. Our argument with the Government concerns the absurd way in which the targets for these indicators have been set.