Who was the Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown
In the period between 1997 and 2006 the Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown was committed to self-imposed Sustainable Investment Rule that stated that national debt would not rise above 40% of GDP. Though, since 2007 UK's national debt has almost doubled and is expected to peak at 80% of GDP in 2014.
The causes of rapid increase in the national debt are threefold. First, at the time of the banking crisis of 2007/08 British government nationalised the Northern Rock bank and partially nationalised RBS and HBOS. These bailouts kept banks solvent though saw the British government accept liability for their massive debts. Second, government ran up huge budget deficits after 2008. When the recession hit, tax revenues fell sharply however government spending increased in part to prevent the collapse of economy. Third, it's now clear that British economy has been running a structural deficit and for too long the nation has lived beyond its means. Even in good years, government spending was greater than tax revenues that meant in every year since 2002 national debt increased. Consequently the current Chancellor is committed to a programme of spending cuts with long-term objective of bringing the budget deficit under control.