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CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling has been accused of covering up the scale of Britain’s mounting debt interest.

The Chancellor appeared before MPs on the Treasury select committee yesterday and refused to give figures estimating how big the interest repayments would be on the UK’s staggering 178 billion annual deficit.

Michael Fallon, the senior Tory MP on

the committee, grilled Mr Darling over the fact that last week’s Pre-Budget Report had not mentioned that debt interest would hit an estimated 60bn per year by 2013 – roughly double the current amount.

Committee members had been told on Monday by the chief economist at HSBC that annual debt interest would grow to 60bn in four years.

Mr Fallon said to the Chancellor: “Why are you continuing to conceal these numbers?”

Mr Darling replied: “For the last ten years, we have been publishing debt numbers on a three-year programme. What we have not done is to publish estimates and forecasts beyond that.

“Even in the best of times, unlike now when there is a great deal of uncertainty. Nothing has changed from this year to last year. We only publish what has been decided.”

The Chancellor was also quizzed over bankers’ bonuses and admitted that the new 50 per cent levy would “not actually raise that much”.

He acknowledged there was “resistance” to the move, but continued to exert pressure on the banks to change their behaviour.

“I say to the bankers, you’ve got to help yourselves to get through this process, and that means if you want to get off the front pages for goodness’ sake show some of the restraint the public want you to.”

Later, shadow chancellor George Osborne wrote to Mr Darling demanding that he also published departmental expenditure limits. He said the Chancellor’s refusal to pinpoint more figures had scared foreign investors.