UK austerity plan averted gilts crisis, says debt management chief

Mr Stheeman said the average maturity of the UK public debt is 13.5 years, by far the longest in the OECD club. "The fact that we have this undoubtedly helped us," he said... Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, has accused the Government of repeating the "mistake" of Margaret Thatcher's austerity policies after the 1979 oil shock, draining £13bn with a VAT rise just as the economy gasps for air.