Blow for Philip Hammond as UK economy hit by worst quarterly growth in five years
2 min read
Labour has urged the Government to end austerity and to invest in the economy as the latest figures show UK growth slowing.
According to the Office for National Statistics, GDP grew by just 0.1% in the first quarter of this year, which marks the smallest increase since the last three months of 2012.
It also represents a significant dip compared to the previous quarter’s 0.4% rise.
John McDonnell blamed Chancellor Philip Hammond for the sluggish growth and urged him to boost spending to help “struggling” families.
ONS officials said recent bad weather had only had a “relatively small” impact on the UK’s economic performance and cited “weaker manufacturing growth, subdued consumer-facing industries and construction output falling significantly,” as the main causes of the slowdown.
In a statement, the Shadow Chancellor said: “Today’s disappointing GDP figures further confirm that continued Tory austerity cuts are weakening growth.
"The Chancellor will want to blame this all on a bit of bad weather, but the ONS say this had a limited impact.
“The truth is that the last eight years of Tory economic failure has allowed our economy to be left exposed.
“This is the weakest Q1 growth since 2012. It’s clear to everyone except Philip Hammond that our economy is in need of increased investment and working families are struggling with the cost of living and the burden of increasing household debt."
Mr Hammond, in response to the figures, said: “Today’s data reflects some impact from the exceptional weather that we experienced last month, but our economy is strong and we have made significant progress.
“Our economy has grown every year since 2010 and is set to keep growing, unemployment is at a 40 year low, and wages are increasing as we build a stronger, fairer economy that works for everyone.
“We are committed to locking in a bright future and better quality of life for everyone which is why we are investing in our people, building new infrastructure, and supporting our vital public services.”
Downing Street this morning admitted that the figures were “clearly disappointing” but insisted that the “fundamentals of the economy” remained strong.
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable blamed Brexit for the poor growth, saying it was “sucking the life out of government, making it impossible to deal with the real challenges facing our country”.
“The people must be offered a final say on the Brexit deal, with the option to remain in the EU. Only then can we begin to fix our under performing economy,” he added.
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