Ignore the Mandelson-Brown spin machine, and forget about the Tories being afraid to say anything any more: read what foreigners really think.

As the Labour fantasies about paying off our deficit continue to gather credence, a selection of foreign newspapers and commentators serves as an objective counterweight.

Suddenly, investors are asking if Britain may soon face its own sovereign debt crisis if the government fails to slash its growing budget deficits quickly enough to escape the contagious fears of financial markets. “If you really want a fiscal problem, look at the U.K.,” said Mark Schofield, a fixed-income strategist at Citigroup. “In Europe, the average deficit is about 6 percent of G.D.P. and in the U.K. it’s 12 percent. It is only just beginning.”’ (NYT)

‘The UK has faced questions from investors and economists as to how it will handle its sprawling deficit. In one sign investors are worried, the cost of insuring against a U.K. sovereign default has jumped to $97,000 a year to insure $10 million of debt, compared with $57,000 in early September, according to CMA DataVision.’ (WSJ)

‘Gordon Brown used every cliche available in a keynote speech on the UK economy. With an election to win, the Premier was never going to reveal detailed plans – but he could have done more to show he appreciates the UK’s plight’. (Reuters)

(See also Slog piece of earlier today – Darling could break our banks)

‘Britain’s AAA-rating is highly at risk. The budget deficit is huge at 13 per cent of GDP and investors are not happy. The outgoing government is inactive due to the election. There will have to be absolute cuts in public salaries or pay, but nobody is talking about that.’ (Sydney Morning Herald)

“I am becoming convinced that Great Britain is the next country that is going to be pummelled by investors….Britain was cushioned at first by low debt levels, but the pace of deterioration has been so extreme that the country can no longer count on market tolerance.” Kornelius Purps, UniCredit, a leading German analyst.

‘Government debt is growing, as is the deficit. The economy is struggling to get out of recession and there is talk of spending cuts or higher taxes. The unions are on edge. And the currency is plummeting. The country is not Greece — but Britain, almost six times bigger, racking up debt even faster, and headed into a critical election. But yields on government bonds have in recent weeks soared to among the highest in Europe while the British pound has taken a battering — both signs of increasing worries about the country’s public finances. There are also concerns that Britain, like other advanced economies, entered the global crisis with its finances in a worse position than many developing nations that spent the last decade cleaning up their balance sheets.’ (Boston Globe)