The UK government spent a record £8.7bn in interest on repaying its debts last month. Overall borrowing, the difference between spending and tax income, was £22.8bn - which was £5.5bn lower than June 2020. The number of corporate insolvencies increased by 19% to 1,207 in June 2021 compared to May’s figure of 1,014 and rose 62.9% compared to June 2020’s figure. The UK unemployment rate stands at 4.8%, and there is a perfect storm brewing with the labour shortages discussed last week and the half a million people that were contacted by the NHS — either directly or through the app — leading to severe labour shortages in critical industries in what is being dubbed as the 'pingdemic'.