A Labour MP has captured the public's attention with an unusually digestible method of explaining the nation's financial woes, using packets of biscuits to illustrate complex economic data. The innovative approach comes as traditional political messaging struggles to resonate, particularly following last week's Budget announcement from the Chancellor.
The Biscuit Breakdown of Britain's Debt
Gordon McKee, the Labour MP for Glasgow South, has achieved viral fame, amassing over 3.3 million views on TikTok. His tool of choice? The nation's favourite cupboard treats: custard creams and chocolate bourbons. In his now-famous clip, McKee constructs graph-like towers from the biscuits to narrate the current economic crisis, focusing sharply on the UK's soaring debt-to-GDP ratio.
He uses a tower of custard creams, topped with a tiny Union Flag, to represent the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Alongside it, he builds a separate tower from chocolate bourbons to signify the national debt. Through this simple visual, he explains that in 1994, the debt-to-GDP ratio was approximately 30%. This figure doubled to around 60% in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis.
McKee then demonstrates how, under successive Conservative governments, the ratio climbed to roughly 80% by 2020. He references the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, triggered by the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, which subsequently pushed the figure to its current level of about 100%.
International Comparisons and Credit Card Britain
The MP doesn't stop at a domestic analysis. He uses increasingly taller bourbon towers to compare the UK's situation with other G7 nations, including France, the United States, and Japan. While these countries may have higher debt ratios, McKee emphasises a critical difference: they all pay less interest on their debt than the UK does.
Employing characteristically flamboyant storytelling, McKee likens this disadvantage to Britain using a credit card to impulsively buy 'a dog, a new car and a hair transplant' in a single month. This analogy aims to critique perceived fiscal irresponsibility.
In a follow-up video, McKee outlines his proposed solutions to prevent Britain from 'crumbling'. His plan centres on three key actions: taxing wealthier individuals based on property rather than transferable assets, ensuring those with 'the broadest shoulders' contribute more, and implementing strategies to stimulate economic growth.
Labour's New Playbook for Public Engagement
Gordon McKee is not operating in isolation. His creative video is part of a broader trend within the Labour Party to experiment with inventive content to connect with voters. Another example is Richard Burgon, the MP for Leeds East, who used a mountain of 200 packs of fusilli pasta to visualise £1 billion. He contrasted this vast pile with just four spirals of pasta, representing the average UK salary of £33,000. That clip, shared on X, garnered over 650,000 views.
This shift in strategy is deliberate. Labour Headquarters is actively searching for novel methods to engage the nation and promote its agenda for a potential second term in government by 2029. The party appears to be taking inspiration from right-wing figures like Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick, who have long mastered the art of using social media to cultivate and consolidate substantial online followings.
As political communication evolves, these biscuit-fuelled economics lessons signal a clear attempt to cut through the noise with relatable, shareable content that translates complex Treasury figures into kitchen-table conversation.
