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25/01/2012
Chancellor 'Horribly Wrong' As Economy Sinks
The chancellor's economic strategy is "horribly wrong" according to a major union, commenting as figures reveal the economy is continuing to shrink.
Commenting on the first estimate of GDP growth published on Wednesday for the last quarter of 2011, which showed the economy shrunk by 0.2 percentage points, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: '"The Chancellor's economic strategy is going horribly wrong. The grand austerity plan is failing to tackle the deficit, causing unemployment to spiral out of control, and is now dragging the country back towards recession.
"Even the most loyal fans of the Chancellor's plan, from the IMF to the ratings agencies, are urging him to change course and focus on stimulating the economy, rather than pursue reckless austerity measures that are making a second global recession look more likely.
Wednesday's figures show a marked drop in economic activity from the third quarter of 2011, when gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.6%. The ONS figures also show that the economy grew by 0.9% during 2011.
Mr Barber added: "Unless the government starts focusing on jobs and growth, it could preside over a decade of economic stagnation, with GDP per capita not set to return to pre-recession levels until at least 2016."
(DW)
Commenting on the first estimate of GDP growth published on Wednesday for the last quarter of 2011, which showed the economy shrunk by 0.2 percentage points, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: '"The Chancellor's economic strategy is going horribly wrong. The grand austerity plan is failing to tackle the deficit, causing unemployment to spiral out of control, and is now dragging the country back towards recession.
"Even the most loyal fans of the Chancellor's plan, from the IMF to the ratings agencies, are urging him to change course and focus on stimulating the economy, rather than pursue reckless austerity measures that are making a second global recession look more likely.
Wednesday's figures show a marked drop in economic activity from the third quarter of 2011, when gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.6%. The ONS figures also show that the economy grew by 0.9% during 2011.
Mr Barber added: "Unless the government starts focusing on jobs and growth, it could preside over a decade of economic stagnation, with GDP per capita not set to return to pre-recession levels until at least 2016."
(DW)
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