Brown blames weather for growth slowdown
By politics.co.uk staff
Gordon Brown has admitted the economic recovery is “fragile”, after the latest official figures showed the growth rate had slowed to just 0.2%.
GDP figures released today by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that gross domestic product (GDP) for the first three months of the year went up by 0.2%, down from the fourth quarter of 2009’s 0.4%.
Predictions in a Reuters poll had fluctuated from 0.2% to 0.5%, with some warning that bad weather would have damaged output. Mr Brown used the weather as an excuse in a Labour party press conference this morning.
“The reason that growth has been slow is you remember what happened in January and February,” the prime minister said.
“Retail sales were very slow because the VAT reduction was withdrawn.
“Then we had a terrible month of weather which hindered transport and communications in business in the country.
“Obviously it has been a difficult few months. But that just shows just how fragile the recovery is.”
With electoral arguments raging about Labour’s plans for a rise in VAT, called a ‘job tax’ by the Tories, the evidence of growth was seized on by Labour to back up their argument that severe cuts would damage recovery from recession.
Mr Brown said government measures like the car scrappage scheme, the future jobs fund and guarantees for young people was “what’s making the difference between recession and recovery”.
Quarterly figures released this week saw unemployment hit a 15-year high and inflation rise to 3.4%.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said the news was not good: “These figures show that the promised recovery is barely visible. There is a real danger of the UK going into a double dip recession. As people deal with their own debts and as the banks continue to strangle good British businesses by starving them of credit the recovery will remain fragile.
“The British economy has had a massive heart attack – it has just emerged from the intensive care unit into the recovery ward. The worst possible action is the Tory proposal to pull out the drip-feed when the patient is still in a critical condition.”
Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne said the figures were “below expectations”.
He added: “They come on a week when unemployment went up again and the government borrowed more than ever before. That is a reminder that Britain’s deep economic problems remain.”
