TaxPayers' Alliance

“Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to preside over the second-largest average annual debt interest bill of any occupant of Number 10 in recorded history, according to fresh analysis published by the …”

“the annual cost of servicing government debt under Burnham will average £112.8billion per year in 2025-26 prices.”

“Only former PM Rishi Sunak's completed tenure saw higher figures, with average yearly payments reaching £121.5billion in real terms during his time in office.”

“In the 2025-26 financial year alone, the government spent £109.3 billion on debt interest — a sum that surpassed the entire projected cost of HS2, estimated at £102.7 billion.”

“That single year's interest bill would also have been sufficient to cover the cost of repairing every pothole on roads across England and Wales nearly six times over.”

“The scale of these payments meant that more than eight per cent of all Government expenditure went towards servicing debt, the think tank claims.”

“Put another way, for every £12 the state spent, more than £1 was absorbed by interest costs rather than directed towards public services, tax reductions or investment.”

“The four costliest years for debt interest on record have all fallen since 2022-23, with the peak reaching £127.1billion in real terms during that year.”

“Compared to the long-run average of £45.7billion annually, measured from 1955-56 to 2025-26, last year's payments were 2.4 times higher.”

“In 2025-26, the £109.3billion interest bill exceeded the combined proceeds from corporation tax, which brought in £95.1billion, and alcohol duty, which yielded £12.4billion.”

“An additional one million people across Britain are projected to become income tax payers in 2026-27 compared with the previous year, according to new research published by the TaxPayers' Alliance.”

“The findings show that the average taxpayer will hand over £640 more in income tax this year than they did in 2024-25.”

“The number of pensioners aged 65 and over who are liable for income tax has surged by 630,000 in just twelve months, climbing from 9.6 million to 10.2 million.”

“The overall income tax bill for 2026-27 is forecast to reach £347billion, representing a £43billion rise since Labour entered government in 2024-25.”

“The research also reveals that since 2010-11, the ranks of additional and higher rate taxpayers have swollen by 5.5 and 2.6 times respectively.”

“Together, these two groups are expected to account for 72.9 per cent of all income tax revenue in 2026-27.”

“In the capital, 25.9 per cent of income taxpayers are on the higher rate, a figure that drops to 14.4 per cent in the North East.”

“The threshold freeze, initially intended to expire after 2025-26, has been prolonged on two separate occasions and is now set to remain in place until 2030-31. By that point, the policy is projected …”

“The staggering figure represents a £6billion or 4.1 per cent increase on the previous year, the TaxPayers' Alliance has confirmed.”

“The net debt of the public sector has now reached over £2.9trillion, which is now 93.7 per cent of GDP.”

“England accounted for 80 per cent of the local authority debt, totalling £127billion.”

“Since 2009, local authority debt within the UK has more than doubled, rising by 121 per cent, or £84.6billion.”

“The debt in England now is the equivalent of more than 53 million council tax band D bills on average.”

“Per resident, the debt now sits at £2232, which is double the same figure in 2009-10.”

“Woking holds the unfortunate title of the council that has the highest debt per resident, sitting at £20,679.”

“Local authority debt within England and Wales in 2025-26 was more than seven times the estimated cost it would take to fill all potholes on local roads in England and Wales, which would cost authorit…”

“London's boroughs held £20.1billion of the 2025-26 debt, which is the highest of any local authority.”

“Transport for London held the most debt of any local authority body within the UK, with £14billion in debt.”

“The Greater London Authority held the second-most debt with £4.7billion.”

“Outside of Greater London, Birmingham City Council comes in as the most indebted authority, with £3.5bn, which is almost double its 2026-27 net revenue budget.”

“This was then followed by Leeds City Council at £2.7bn and Woking Borough Council at £2.2bn”