Pre-Budget Report

It is not only the Opposition who are questioning the Government's debt reduction plans. The bond markets around the world are also doing so, and I was alarmed to read yesterday that the world's biggest bond house, PIMCO, which is based in the United States, has said that there is an 80 per cent. chance of Britain losing its triple A sovereign debt rating. That would result in increased mortgage and borrowing costs for the whole UK economy.