Debt crisis may require national unity government, says Field
The former Labour minister Frank Field has warned that the scale
of government borrowing may require the two main political
parties to form a "national government" in order to calm the
nerves of the international bond market.  In an article for the
Guardian, the former social security minister highlights the
increasing dependency of the British economy on the market in
government gilts - bonds issued by the UK government to fund its
debt - and sketches a scenario in which investors may one day
hold the economy to ransom. Field says: "What are we to do if
the bond market refused to buy huge chunks of government debt,
or only at a ransom price?"  Field posits rising costs of
unemployment as a possible trigger, since a serious
miscalculation in the figures could see government borrowing
increase above its current £118bn. If so, he argues, investors
would lose confidence that the government could service its debt
and the market in government gilts wou