Britain is bottom of the G7′s growth table

Figures in today’s Independent suggest that Britain is bottom of the G7′s growth league table. Excluding Japan because of the “special factors” caused by the Tohoku earthquake, Britain is growing more slowly than every other major developed economy.

The graphic – reproduced below – accompanies an interview with Robert Chote, head of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility. Mr Chote warned that Britain was facing “relatively weak” growth over the next few months and was unlikely to hit the OBR’s own growth forecast. Britain grew by just 0.2 per cent in the second quarter. By comparison, the Independent’s figures suggest that Canada grew by 0.9 per cent, France by 0.7 per cent and even Italy and the US by 0.33 per cent.

In the interview, Mr Chote said:

“Back in March our central forecast was for 1.7 per cent growth this year, which at the time was fractionally more pessimistic than the average of the outside forecasters.

“Since then obviously we’ve had weaker out-turns in the first and second quarters than most people, including us, anticipated. For the second quarter the ONS [Office for National Statistics] explained a variety of one-off factors that contributed to that.

“As a simple matter of arithmetic, in order to get to 1.7 per cent now you’d be looking for quarter-on-quarter growth rates of 1 per cent in the second and third quarters of 2011, and there aren’t many people out there expecting that.”

Earlier this week, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research predicted that “domestic demand will hinder any meaningful recovery this year” with growth hitting just 1.3 per cent. They suggested that:

“short term fiscal policy is too tight, and a modest loosening would improve prospects for output and employment with little or no negative effect on fiscal credibility.”

If the OBR were forced to downgrade their growth estimates in the autumn, it would be the fourth time that they had done so since Alistair Darling left No 11 Downing Street.

http://twitter.com/technicalslip/status/99023167519068160 Technical Slip

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
http://twitter.com/magic_torch/status/99023613432315904 Mr W.H.

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
http://twitter.com/aifl2/status/99023677701619712 Ant Lei

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
http://twitter.com/vicsinghb/status/99023878730428416 vic singh

RT @leftfootfwd: Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://t.co/FyxLMwR
http://twitter.com/karanmude/status/99025177811238913 Karan Mude

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
http://twitter.com/saggydaddy/status/99026646866198528 Saggydaddy

What excuse will Georgy Boy use? http://bit.ly/oq0LoG Britain lowest growth of G7
http://twitter.com/mr_pukeko/status/99028533812277248 Matt Jeffs

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
http://twitter.com/tpreadthis/status/99030365636796417 TP recommends…

@wdjstraw on Robert Chote and growth – Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/rddFZz
http://twitter.com/dis_ppl_protest/status/99033293449740288 DPAC

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
http://twitter.com/therightarticle/status/99036264325591040 Michael

Britain is bottom of the G7′s growth table l Left Foot Forward – http://j.mp/qb2YuJ
http://twitter.com/modditydodds/status/99041305287606272 Knut Cayce

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
http://twitter.com/ashleyharnett/status/99042431181389825 Ashley Harnett

Britain is failing at economic growth, thanks Osborne – http://t.co/0n2lHjJ
http://twitter.com/sceptwic/status/99059664406319104 Sam McBratney

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
http://twitter.com/pareayh/status/99062372173484032 paurina

Britain is bottom of the G7′s growth table l Left Foot Forward – http://j.mp/qb2YuJ
http://twitter.com/joefowles/status/99077316210204672 Joseph Fowles

Britain bottom of G7's growth table – http://t.co/IGEa3zi
http://twitter.com/lenarthur2/status/99089629952745472 Len Arthur

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
http://twitter.com/gjonesofficial/status/99100920624852994 Gareth Jones

http://tinyurl.com/3c5qkns Britain is bottom of the G7′s growth table
http://twitter.com/adpucci/status/99146902834130944 Pucci Dellanno

Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://bit.ly/p5mNsK
Robert

Sadly you cannot really look at Darlings and then Osborne’s because sadly both intended to cut Billions and Darling has gone, I suspect Ed Balls would have asked Brown what to do, and we now we have the last rat leaving a sinking shit.
http://twitter.com/lauriemartin2/status/99207187007668224 Laurie Martin

Arresting growth figures published in @leftfootfwd – @wdjstraw http://t.co/65qXQYe UK growth lowest of all developed countries.
Leon Wolfson

Robert; How and where you cut is important. The Tories have front-loaded the cuts in ways Labour didn’t plan, and yes the difference in the total would have been important.

They also wouldn’t of cut corporation tax, would have stuck with the NI rise, not raised VAT and not upturned the NHS, although sadly probably done just about the same to Universities. Still, a good 1-1.5% growth right there…
http://twitter.com/cllrkrichards/status/99254764260442112 Kevin Richards

Whats wrong George, it was the snow, then Royal wedding -Cricket this time?: Britain is bottom of the G7's growth table http://t.co/rXOpL3n
Ed’s Talking Balls

Labour would have raised VAT. Before the election, none of Darling, Osborne or Cable ruled out an increase. In politician-speak, that’s as good as an admission. And they would certainly have done exactly the same with regard to university fees: Labour too was committed to implementing the recommendations of the Browne Review (having commissioned it themselves, not to mention having introduced fees in the first place).

‘Labour didn’t plan’, to be fair, is an accurate description of what passes for Labour economic policy. That blank sheet of paper remains pristine, too.

1-1.5% growth? I know wildly optimistic growth predictions are de rigueur nowadays, but let’s not go overboard…
Leon Wolfson

True, it’s probably a massive underestimate. The way growth has been slashed here is nothing sort of extraordinary. I can think of few

Also, even if it had gone up (and I don’t believe for a second that it’s more than propaganda from you), then it would have been taken back down again, as Labour have quite explicitly called for.

But of course, it’s always a clean sheet, because you won’t admit that Labour can do anything, it’s always the same old – unjustified – slurs. Typical Nasty Party – and there’s a justified one.

Plenty of cash for tax cuts for the rich, nothing but pain for the poor.

Also, screwing over the University system, destroying a system which was already failing the aspirations of the people this country so badly, is nothing to boast about. I’ve seen most of two University’s best research scientists quit (on redundancy schemes the University has had to offer because of the teaching budget being savaged by the Government) and go abroad to take up other posts in the last few weeks.

Yea, thanks for that. What a wonderful way of killing Britain’s future.
Leon Wolfson

…I can think of few better ways to do it. Grr, could of sworn I finished that sentence ><
Ed’s Talking Balls

‘Yea, thanks for that’

No idea why you’re thanking me for university funding. Come to think of it, even sarcastically thanking the government would be indirectly to criticise the Labour Party you so slavishly defend on these pages (despite your protestations to the contrary, criticisms are few and far between).

If you really believe that VAT wouldn’t have gone up under Labour then I have doubts that you still inhabit the real world. Look again at what the prospective Chancellors were saying pre-election: curiously similar mealy-mouthed stuff, wouldn’t you agree? Despite Brown’s hilariously unsuccessful “investment vs. cuts” rhetoric, Darling knew the score and knew that cuts and tax rises were on the agenda for the foreseeable future. What chance did such a (comparatively) sensible guy have among such lunatics? Lastly, as for Labour only grudgingly and temporarily raising VAT, that’s nonsense. Certainly, they wouldn’t have been able to reduce it yet.

I’ve no idea what makes you think I ‘won’t admit Labour can do anything’. I certainly will admit Labour can do things, and has done. I will, however, deny that in the main they did good things. And by Miliband’s own admission the policy sheet remains blank, so that particular criticism is fully justified.

I’ve never known such an enthusiastic caricaturist as you. It must be nice to deal in such certainties, always believing yourself to be morally right and those who disagree as inherently evil.
Leon Wolfson

It’s called taking a position, only the far right would call having principles “caricaturist”.

And of course they’d be able to reduce it, not being tied to a single answer to everything (raise tax on the poor, cut tax for rich and corporations).