Families in the UK now owe a record 173% of their incomes in debts

Gordon Brown's sheer incompetent management of the UK's economy over the last 11 years is finally showing up in the figures. Today I learn that:

"Families in the UK now owe a record 173pc of their incomes in debts, official figures have shown. The ratio of debt to income is higher than any other country in the Group of Seven leading industrialised economies, and is sharply higher than the 129pc of incomes it was five years ago...Michael Saunders of Citigroup warned that - at 173pc of household incomes - the debt burden is higher even than Japan's when it peaked in 1990, before more than a decade of deflation. "Not only are we the highest in the G7, we are the highest a G7 country has ever seen," he said."

Meanwhile the same Telegraph report says:

"Market researcher GfK said its consumer confidence barometer dropped five points this month to -34 points - the lowest since 1990, when the worsening economy contributed to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher. GfK warned that the measure is now only a point away from hitting its lowest ebb since comparable records began in 1974.

Economists warned that the combination of data, which also included news of the saving ratio dropping to the lowest level since 1959 and of household disposable incomes falling at the fastest rate since 1999, suggested Britain is heading for a sharper downturn than many had anticipated."

No return to boom and bust, eh Gordon. You always wanted a place in history and you will have one now; the man who fucked the UK economy more than anyone else has ever done, well done Gordon.