A country that can no longer afford itself
Fourteen data-driven stories tracing a single thread: from the root causes of Britain's fiscal crisis, through the national accounts, to the services that are breaking — and the two areas where things are genuinely getting better.
Read in order for the full picture, or jump to any story. Every chart draws from open government data.
The root causes
Two structural forces explain almost everything that follows: an economy that stopped growing, and a population that stopped replacing itself.
The lost decade
Output per hour flatlined after 2008. If you can't produce more, you can't pay more. Everything else follows from this.
Read storyThe baby bust
The fertility rate has fallen below 1.5 — the lowest ever. Fewer babies today means fewer workers tomorrow, and a pension system that can't sustain itself.
Read storyThe fiscal trap
A slow-growing economy can't generate enough tax revenue to cover rising costs. So the government borrows — and the borrowing has consequences of its own.
Where the money goes
Britain borrows £153bn a year. Debt approaches 100% of GDP. How much the government raises, what it spends, and why the gap keeps growing.
Read storyThe bill
£106bn a year in debt interest — £290m a day. The decade of “free money” is over, and QE losses are costing billions more.
Read storyThe squeeze
The fastest price rises in 40 years. Everything costs more, permanently. Inflation fell, but the prices didn't.
Read storyThe consequences
When spending is squeezed, services break. These are the results — from waiting lists to court backlogs to sewage in rivers.
The waiting game
7.6 million on the waiting list. A&E targets abandoned. How the health service stopped meeting its own standards.
Read storyFalling behind
PISA scores declining. Per-pupil funding cut in real terms. A generation educated on less.
Read storyJustice delayed
Court backlogs at record highs. Prisons overflowing. A 5.5% charging rate. The system failing at every stage.
Read storyThe defence gap
The smallest military since Napoleon. NATO targets barely met. A shrinking force in a more dangerous world.
Read storyCrumbling
Potholes, late trains, patchy broadband. The physical fabric of the country deteriorating.
Read storyDirty water
Sewage in rivers. Pollution rising. A privatised monopoly that stopped investing in the system.
Read storyThe migration surge
Net migration tripled. Immigration fills the workforce gaps that low fertility and low productivity create — but generates pressures of its own.
Read storyWhat's possible
Not everything is decline. In two areas, sustained policy commitment has delivered genuine transformation — proof that these problems aren't inevitable.
The green grid
Coal generated a third of Britain's electricity in 1990. Now it's essentially zero. A quiet revolution in how Britain powers itself.
Read storyClearing the air
Emissions halved. Air pollution down 76%. EVs surging. Decarbonisation is working — but the hard part is just beginning.
Read story