In reply to balmybaldwin:
> So the Uk has been down graded...how serious is this?
You only have to read past paragraph four to realise that Moody's has actually lagged behind the other prominent credit agencies in applying the higher rating for the past year, which suggests that the shift is not very serious at all in terms of short term consequences. It's more a tweak to come into line with the prevailing thinking elsewhere.
Ironically deficit reduction has surprised on the upside recently which goes against Moody's outdated observation. Of course this is the firm whose brief it was to spot the sub-prime debt crisis, so no surprises there.