Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of recent research by the Taxpayers' Alliance indicating that the United Kingdom's true national debt is £8.6 trillion.

According to the latest Public Sector Finances release (May 2015) produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) stands at £1.5 trillion. This is the government’s usual measure of debt, and the measure on the basis of which the official forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) are produced.

The number quoted by the Taxpayers’ Alliance includes many future and government liabilities not generally included in debt figures and it does not include corresponding future assets, physical assets, illiquid financial assets or future revenues.