The Chancellor might want people to hear the truth, but few in his party are listening Daily Telegraph Published 28 September 2026 6:28pm BST When politicians say they intend to level with the British people you can be pretty certain they will do nothing of the kind. In his Liverpool conference speech John Healey, the Chancellor, mainly indulged in the usual misty-eyed socialist whimsy and empty sloganising often associated with such events. However, he did have one home truth to vouchsafe to Labour delegates: we don’t have any money. He recalled how he was in the Treasury when Gordon Brown was chancellor, the economy was booming and there was cash to spend. This is not the case now, he said. The nation’s £3tn debt is almost 100 per cent of GDP and more is spent on financing it than on defence, the Home Office and justice combined. Mr Healey sought to hold out the prospect of “hope again” – the conference slogan – but cautioned that this would have to be achieved within the conf...
How Britain’s economy collapses, step by terrifying step With huge national debt, the UK is dangerously exposed to our international lenders – which could bring about a nightmare scenario 329 Gift this article free Add us as preferred source The road to financial meltdown is too close for comfort Credit : CHUNYIP WONG Neil Record Show biography Published 28 September 2026 10:35am BST John Healey has an unenviable task on his hands. The size of it was underlined on Monday when the UK’s borrowing costs rose ahead of the Chancellor’s speech at the Labour conference . The truth is that the investors who fund Britain’s debt addiction are right to be wary. Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, insisted last week that the UK is “too exposed” to the bond markets, months after saying we were “in hock” to them. It is though his own words that have deepened that exposure. The PM’s implication in the Commons that social security was a higher priority than national security left investors very, ...