Stats Jamie

05/09/2026

Britain is closing in on £3 TRILLION of national debt — while our borrowing costs are now among the highest in the developed world.

In my latest full discussion with Mike Graham, we get into some of the big economic and political questions facing Britain:

• Why Andy Burnham is STILL blaming Brexit for weak growth
• Why UK borrowing costs are so high
• Britain’s march towards £3 trillion of debt
• Why debt interest now costs us more than £100 billion a year
• Whether devolution has actually delivered better outcomes
• And why understanding the statistics behind the headlines matters

Britain undoubtedly has a growth problem. But blaming Brexit doesn’t explain everything.

High spending, expensive energy, rising taxes and ever-growing debt all matter too.

🎥 Watch my full conversation with Mike Graham below.

And let me know — what do you think is the biggest economic problem Britain needs to tackle first?

05/09/2026

🚨 Britain’s Double Squeeze — Higher Energy Bills, Then Higher Interest Rates

Energy prices rise.

Then the Bank of England talks about raising interest rates.

So households get hit twice: higher bills and higher borrowing costs.

We saw this during the last cost-of-living crisis. Energy prices surged, inflation peaked at 11.1%, and Bank Rate eventually climbed from 0.1% to 5.25%.

The Bank can’t produce more oil or gas.

It can’t directly bring global energy prices down.

What higher rates can do is squeeze households and businesses even harder.

And while consumers were paying more last time, major banks also benefited from higher interest income.

Is the Bank about to repeat the same mistake?

Global energy prices are pushing inflation higher. The Bank of England can’t produce more oil or gas — but another rate rise risks making households pay for the shock twice.

04/09/2026

🚨 THE BANK OF ENGLAND IS TALKING ABOUT RAISING INTEREST RATES AGAIN.

The reason? Global energy shocks could push inflation higher.

But higher interest rates won't produce more oil or gas.

They won't bring energy prices down.

What they WILL do is:

🏠 Push up mortgage costs
💳 Make borrowing more expensive
🏢 Hit businesses
🛒 Squeeze households even harder

If inflation is being driven by global energy prices, not runaway consumer demand, raising rates doesn't fix the cause.

It just adds another punishment.

Consumers get hit twice:

Higher energy bills.

Higher borrowing costs.

03/09/2026

Andy Burnham is STILL blaming Brexit for Britain’s weak economic growth.

Years after the referendum, Brexit remains the go-to explanation whenever Britain’s economy struggles.

But the data tells a more complicated story.

Since the Brexit vote, UK economic growth has outperformed Germany and Italy and been broadly similar to France. Spain has done better.

Britain clearly has a growth problem — but continually blaming Brexit risks ignoring the bigger issues holding the economy back.

High energy costs. High taxes. Weak investment. Poor competitiveness.

If we want stronger growth, Britain needs to become a cheaper and more attractive place to invest, employ people and do business.

Is Brexit really still the problem — or has it become a convenient excuse?

01/09/2026

🚨 63 MIDWIVES QUALIFIED — BUT NO JOBS

Around 63 newly qualified midwives in Wales are reportedly still without NHS jobs.

They’ve trained. They’ve qualified. They’re ready to work.

Yet there aren’t funded posts for them.

At the same time, the Welsh Government continues to spend money on overseas programmes and offices, while the NHS also carries substantial non-clinical staffing costs.

This is what frustrates people about public spending.

If we can afford to train frontline NHS staff, surely we should be able to afford to employ them.

What should come first: frontline healthcare or everything else?

30/08/2026

Britain has spent the equivalent of almost £500 billion on foreign aid since 1960.

Debt is now close to £3 trillion.

Yet Labour MPs want aid spending increased again.

Should charity begin at home?

Watch the video 👇

28/08/2026

Britain has spent the equivalent of almost £500 billion on foreign aid since 1960.

In today’s money:

1990s: £41bn
2000s: £82bn
2010s: £162bn

It doubled — then doubled again.

At the same time, Britain keeps spending more than it raises in tax, so year after year we borrow to fill the gap.

Debt is now close to £3 trillion.

And now Labour MPs are calling to increase foreign aid spending again.

So why are we adding to the bill for the next generation to fund foreign aid today?

Since 1960, Britain has spent almost half a trillion pounds on foreign aid in today’s money — even as governments have routinely spent more than they raise.

26/08/2026

🚨 WALES NEEDS MIDWIVES. 63 QUALIFIED MIDWIVES CAN’T GET NHS JOBS.

This is a question of priorities.

63 newly qualified midwives in Wales are ready to work — yet NHS Wales has no posts for them, despite maternity services reporting staffing pressures.

Meanwhile:

🌳 Welsh Government is spending £350,000 this year on tree planting in Uganda

🌍 Millions are budgeted for international activity — despite foreign affairs being reserved to Westminster

📢 Public Health Wales is recruiting communications and marketing roles

💼 HEIW — responsible for NHS workforce planning — is advertising an Assistant Director of Strategic Workforce Planning paying up to £92,984

A newly qualified Band 5 midwife starts on around £32,557.

This isn’t pretending every one of these budgets could simply be transferred directly into maternity wards.

It’s about something much simpler:

What should government prioritise?

We train frontline NHS staff.

We’re told services need them.

Then 63 qualified midwives are left without jobs.

Meanwhile the money somehow exists for everything else.

Get the basics right first.

Do you think Welsh Government has its priorities right?

24/08/2026

🚨 MORE TAX. EVEN MORE SPENDING.

The British Government has a spending problem.

In July, compared with a year earlier:

💷 Tax receipts: +£4.0bn
📈 Government spending: +£5.7bn

Despite taking more in, Britain still borrowed another £1.8bn.

Last financial year, borrowing reached £128bn.

And national debt is now £2.985 trillion — just £15bn short of £3 trillion.

So where should government cut?

The welfare bill? Foreign aid? Quangos? Consultants? Bloated administration?

At some point, every pound of taxpayers’ money has to justify itself.

What would you cut first?

Follow for more stats, facts and analysis every day.

23/08/2026

🚨 BRITAIN IS JUST £15 BILLION AWAY FROM £3 TRILLION OF DEBT

Latest ONS figures put public sector net debt at £2.985 trillion.

That’s £95.9 billion more than a year ago.

And although borrowing so far this financial year is lower than last year, Britain has still borrowed £56.7 billion since April — more than the OBR forecast.

The part that really stands out?

In July, compared with a year earlier:

💷 Tax receipts: UP £4.0bn
📈 Government spending: UP £5.7bn

More money is coming into the Treasury.

But spending is rising even faster.

We cannot keep responding to this by reaching for another tax rise.

Britain needs stronger growth, better public-sector productivity — and a serious conversation about cutting government spending.

I’ve broken down the latest figures in my new Stat of the Nation.

👇 Read it here:

If £3 trillion of debt isn’t the moment to get serious about spending, what is?

Tax revenues are rising. Borrowing has improved slightly. But spending rose faster than receipts in July — and Britain has added almost £96 billion to the national debt in just twelve months.