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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Government to pay off some of WW1 debt | Government to pay off some of WW1 debt |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The UK Government has said that it will pay off £218m of the UK's £2bn First World War debt by refinancing bonds issued in 1917. It is the first payment of its kind for 67 years. | |
| The debt has not been paid off previously because of the relatively low interest it incurs. | |
| The Treasury is planning to cut the annual cost of the debt by re-borrowing money at today's rates. | |
| The rates today are lower than the 4% interest on the debt. | |
| In addition to re-financing the war bonds, the government will also redeem debt stretching back to the eighteenth century. | In addition to re-financing the war bonds, the government will also redeem debt stretching back to the eighteenth century. |
| The war debt comes from bonds that were sold to finance the war and converted into perpetual bonds by the then chancellor Winston Churchill. | The war debt comes from bonds that were sold to finance the war and converted into perpetual bonds by the then chancellor Winston Churchill. |
| Perpetual bonds, as the name suggests, pay a steady stream of interest forever. | Perpetual bonds, as the name suggests, pay a steady stream of interest forever. |
| The bonds that Mr Osborne have acquired instead have a much lower interest rate. | The bonds that Mr Osborne have acquired instead have a much lower interest rate. |