It keeps getting bigger and bigger. And there’s no Bruce Willis to rescue us, our knight in shining armour will be the taxman…

As any sports fan will know,  there’s nothing like backing up your lofty position with some convincing performances. The UK’s borrowing reached a record high in October, according to official figures published yesterday. Meaning the state of public finances are worse than many economists feared.

Borrowing ballooned by £11.4bn during October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, around double the consensus forecast.

National debt has spiralled to £829.7bn ­– equivalent to more than 59 per cent of GDP. That compares to £695bn in October last year, 48 per cent of GDP.

On account of all that, the rate of VAT will increase to 17.5% after a year at 15%, and advisers predict that could increase further, alongside other increases for the pre-Budget report on 9 December.

Capital gains tax could also increase from its 18% rate to bring it more in line with income tax, and the introduction of the previously delayed 1% increase in corporation tax will be be brought in for small businesses.

Awesome.

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