War bonds would effectively be gilts, sold to the public, with the proceeds going straight to Britain’s creaking defense sector. The UK public is sitting on hundreds of billions of pounds in savings accounts and the theory goes that many people would be tempted by patriotic fervor — as well as tax breaks and the safety of government debt — to transfer some of their cash to a financial product that helps keep the country safe. Brits put about £70 billion ($92.5 billion) into independent savings accounts, known as ISAs, every year, as much as £20,000 of which is tax free. Much is in cash ISAs that can have low interest rates.








