the UK economy propped up by big business, skating on thin ice:
"The UK's current deficit has reached 3.5 per cent of GDP which suggests that as a country we are close to the edge. Ultimately, we are all skating - not to say wobbling - on thin ice. There's a danger that we are slithering into complacency." Britain's consumer debt mountain has topped £1.3 trillion, raising fears that thousands of households will be left with debts they cannot afford to repay if interest rates are jacked up. Shock figures last week showing inflation had jumped to a 10-year high of 3.1 per cent, prompted some analysts to predict that rates might have to rise from their current 5.25 per cent to 6 per cent.