British economy contracts again

The worrying picture which says it all about the George Osborne's economic policy http://bit.ly/gJLYSP

RT @wdjstraw: The worrying picture which says it all about the George Osborne's economic policy http://bit.ly/gJLYSP

RT @leftfootfwd: British economy contracts again – LFF charts the GDP drop http://bit.ly/fqHvaL

RT @leftfootfwd: British economy contracts again http://bit.ly/fqHvaL #ukpolitics #tories #osborne #economy #offacliff

@MediocreDave http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/01/british-economy-contracts-again/

RT @wdjstraw The worrying picture which says it all about the George Osborne's economic policy http://bit.ly/gJLYSP

RT @brianfmoylan: RT @leftfootfwd: British economy contracts again http://bit.ly/fqHvaL #ukpolitics #tories #osborne #economy #offacliff

The weather is a significant factor in the disappointing figures announced by the ONS but domestic demand has been getting weaker for many months (as the Regional Development Agencies have been reporting). As a result of higher inflation, weak wage growth, prospects of public sector cuts and an increasing probability of a double dip in Q1, the domestic demand is going to weaken further. This is going to be partially offset by higher business investment and stronger demand from abroad (i.e. notably from the US which, of course, has taken a very different path to growth). But ultimately this country’s growth prospects depend on consumer spending. I hope that there is a plan B. There is no doubt that we need to tackle the deficit but not at the rate suggested by the Coalition. We have a large open economy, our own currency and average debt maturity of some 14 years, against <5 across much of the developed world. 

Bightspot: Manufacturing and utilities. How much of that was gas and electricity use to keep us warm?

Historians will view today’s figures as a vindication of Gordon Brown’s handling of the recession. He warned that DC/GO would put the recovery at risk, and he was correct.

No doubt the weather had some impact, but the government can’t hide behind it when they’ve played an important part themselves.

As I say on my blog, the next few months are a momentus point on politics and history of this government. Osborne’s choice in the coming weeks will define him. http://tinyurl.com/6ckaepp

David Ward – Since these figures do not include the governments changes to VAT and since to date there has not been a single cut from this government on public services how can you make this claim?

When Labour were borrowing at the height of the tax take, as crazy as that sounds, why were none of the doom merchants shouting then?

There are years between now and the next election…

It would seem to me that if the Tory led coalition or ONS wish to blame the weather, (Gideon has stated this as a *huge Factor”), they should be at least able to indicate how many trading days were lost and how that impacts over at least two months in the quarter where the weather had no impact.
I recall a few days of snow bound impacts, but no prolonged total shutdown and nothing comparable to the Great Ice Age or the Pakistani floods.

[...] It is good to see King acknowledge the depth of the squeeze now facing families across Britain. But his ‘bigger picture’ isn’t big enough. As the chart below shows, the stagnation we’re now seeing in the value of real wages is not simply the result of the recent downturn; on the contrary, the last time the UK saw strong and consistent real wage-growth was 2003 – long before the crisis hit, and long before the dip in GDP growth. [...]

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