Long-term borrowing costs now sit comfortably above the US, France and Italy, despite the overall debt levels in these countries being much higher when measured as a share of the economy.If anything, this has only fuelled Britain’s international image as an economic outlier to be treated as a special case.The combined impact of a £25bn increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions and mandated increases in the minimum wage weighed on the jobs market and pushed up prices and wages – limiting the Ba ...