GORDON Brown’s attempt to wipe £16bn off the national debt with public asset sales is pathetic. I could wipe ten times that much off at a stroke. Here’s how.

About £160bn of the national debt is of a very curious nature: not seen before. This arises from quantitative easing. I refer to the £160bn of government debt or “gilts” held by the Bank of England. This £160bn is money owed by “the government” (an entity owned by the people) to the Bank of England (another entity owned by the people).

This is a nonsense. It’s a bit like saying I am in debt because my left-hand pocket owes my right-hand pocket some money.

The solution is to tell Uncle Mervyn (King, governor of the Bank of England) to jolly well shred his gilts. Hey presto, that’s £160bn off the national debt.

Of course, this sleight of hand does nothing whatsoever to solve the country’s real problems. But this national debt reduction scheme beats Gordon Brown’s into a cocked hat.

I might even patent this idea and let the Government use it for a one per cent commission: £1,600,000,000 would come in handy.

Ralph Musgrave, Durham