Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Brexit blow to economy Growth to remain ‘lukewarm’
THE Government was blasted for failing the nation yesterday after new figures revealed the economy was running out of steam post-brexit.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK’S gross domestic product grew by an expected 0.3% in the three months April to June. This is an improvement on the 0.2% growth in the first quarter, but is markedly short of the 0.7% achieved in the final three months of 2016.
The construction and manufacturing sectors, which had been expected to benefit from the plunge in sterling since the Brexit vote, dragged down the performance, falling by 0.9% and 0.5% respectively.
Only the services sector, boosted by retail, hotels and the film industry, performed well, growing by 0.5%. Darren Morgan, ONS head of GDP, said: “The economy has experienced a notable slowdown in the first half of this year.”
The CBI said growth was likely to remain “lukewarm” until Brexit negotiations finish.
“Providing businesses with certainty and stability has never been so important,” said chief economist Rain Newton-smith.
Shadow Chancellor John Mcdonnell said the figures “expose the last seven years of Tory economic failure”. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said ministers’ insistence on “an extreme Brexit” was “creating uncertainty and reducing investment”. But Chancellor Philip Hammond said: “Our economy has grown continuously for four-and-ahalf years, delivering record levels of employment.”