Should taxes rise to ease pressure on rising borrowing costs at the Autumn budget?
UK public sector net debt stands at nearly £3 trillion or about 95% of GDP. Long-term government borrowing costs have risen sharply to 28-year highs with 30-year gilt yields at 5.89% in early September 2026, increasing projected debt interest payments and squeezing fiscal headroom against the government's rules. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT while preparing for the Autumn Budget.
5 Opinions
Tax and spend is already completely reckless. We are borrowing at war-time levels and cannot kick the debt can down the road for much longer. Unless spending is cut now we will face a sovereign debt crisis, or worse.
A more radical thought would be to spend less.
It's very much a yes BUT... The govt cannot keep squeezing normal taxpayers dry to appease bond markets. It can, however, squeeze unearned wealth, close corporate loopholes, and steady the books through targeted taxes, not necessarily aimed at the poorest because quite simply we are already living under the highest peacetime tax burden in modern history, and people have nothing left to give.