Once again, Britain spend billions of pounds servicing its growing national debt (and thus adding to it!).

The interest bill on central government debt rose to £8.4bn in August, £1.9bn more than in August 2024, and £900m more than in July.

This increase was driven by higher inflation, which added to the cost of index-linked government bonds.

So far this financial year, the interest payable on central government debt has increased by £10.6bn to £49.9bn, largely because the interest payable on index-linked gilts rises and falls with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) of inflation.