Budget simulator

You are Chancellor. Your challenge: balance the budget (get borrowing down to zero) by changing spending and tax. Watch the effect on debt over 10 years.

Spending (£ billion per year)

Health (£111–333 bn) £222 bn

Education (England, day-to-day) (£51–152 bn) £101 bn

Defence (£31–93 bn) £62 bn

Welfare (excl. pension) (£94–282 bn) £188 bn

State pension (£73–219 bn) £146 bn

Tax rates

Income tax (basic rate) (10–40%, now 20%) 20%

VAT (10–30%, now 20%) 20%

Corporation tax (15–35%, now 25%) 25%

Move the sliders to balance the budget.

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Total spending

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Total revenue

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Borrowing this year

Debt over 10 years

Projected net debt, applying your choices each year. Assumes a 4% interest rate and a fixed economy. See the assumptions below.
Year	Debt (£ bn)	Debt (% of GDP)

Assumptions used in this model

Baseline spending £1,360 bn, revenue £1,232 bn, debt £2,990 bn, so today's starting point is a deficit of £128 bn.
Each percentage point on a rate is worth roughly the amount shown (an HMRC 'ready reckoner' style estimate). Income tax shows the basic rate as a simple stand-in for the whole system.
Debt in future years is the running total of borrowing plus assumed interest, held to zero once cleared. Economic growth, behavioural responses, and inflation are not modelled.

Budget simulator

Result

Debt over 10 years