Although the yields on all government bonds have been pushed higher in part as investors divert their money into the fast-rising equity markets, the comparison between the UK and elsewhere shows that British debt has been increasingly shunned since the pre-Budget report at the start of this month, which was widely criticised for failing to unveil a more ambitious deficit reduction plan. With the credit ratings agencies having warned that unless the next Government scales down spending more radically, they are likely to remove Britain's top-tier rating, many suspect 2010 could be the most testing year for government fund-raising in a generation.