Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish
I don't think the UK even paid off the WW1 debt, it still owes America billions. WW2 was paid off recently.
It introduced Income Tax to pay for the Napoleonic Wars as a short term measure. The current debt is roughly about £30,000 for every man, woman and child. Brexit is going to increase the burden (even the Government admit this) further. In order to remain competitive, it seems that the Government will have to keep business taxes low and the argument is that will bring in more revenue. Unemployment is going to rise, which means lower tax revenues, and an increase in the welfare commitment.
It's looking likely that Joe Public are going to have to pay for this sooner or later. I agreed with furlough, but it was obvious (and I have seen this personally) that it would hold people back from returning to work. I always felt that furlough should have been a deferred loan scheme, in much the same way that students have to repay their debt from their future wages, because it would have satisfied the short term impact of the pandemic, and it would have prodded people to return to work. What is more likely to happen is that we all get to pay more tax (including those like me who have been lucky enough to continue working, albeit on lower wages and with no Government assistance) to pay for neighbours who have taken the piss out of the system.
UK debt is at £2tn and I don't think it will ever go below £1.5tn in our lifetimes. People always say it will be "your kids who pay for this" but, as history shows, it probably won't be.
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