But not by much: only by £8.9bn. If that number rings a bell, it is because this is the much-vaunted, but not much understood, "headroom" figure a lot of people in Westminster like to drone on about.

How does someone accumulate so much debt? The SLC was keen to stress ... a debt burden which threatens to curtail their ambitions, too," Mr Stanley said. "This is a growing crisis that threatens ...