I thought United Kingdom replaced Great Britain in 1800 as the official name with the Act of Union of that year. Strictly speaking, United Kingdom of Great Britain and [Northern] Ireland. Anyhow I ha… (View Post)

. Indeed. However, there are elements of a compulsory contributory pension scheme in place now that could be developed over time to substitute for part of the state pension. A propos Europeans and Am… (View Post)

Agreed. There's not much government can do to avoid those higher servicing costs except don't be Truss or Farage. Also Thatcher level deficits aren't actually good. (View Post)

As a matter of record the deficit now is lower than the one Thatcher ran for most of the time she was in office. (View Post)

Point of order, the current deficit isn't especially high by historic standards and is expected to fall according to the OBR, not least because Rachel Reeves is raising some unpopular taxes http… (View Post)