Britain, are you Greece in disguise?

Britain is living “on borrowed time” runs the Times’ shock front page headline in the wake of a report on government spending. “Official figures showed that the Treasury borrowed another £4.3 billion (€4.9bn) last month,” the daily announces. “It is the first time since records began in 1993 that the nation has been in the red in January, traditionally the month when government coffers are swelled by big tax receipts.” Although Treasury officials insist that the Government will borrow a total of £178 billion (€202bn) this year - 12.6 per cent of GDP, City experts believe the deficit will overtake Greece’s 12.7. For the Times leader, this is “a monumental economic failure.” Britain went unprepared into “the bitterest recession since the 1930s,” it argues, pinpointing Gordon Brown’s years as Chancellor, where he “dramatically expanded welfare spending."