British economy has shrunk by 5.9%

“This Chancellor is leading the rest of the world in taking us out of recession.”

- Gordon Brown, 3rd June 2009

“Britain is better placed than other economies to withstand the slowdown in the global economy… the reforms we have made since 1997 – independence for the Bank of England and tough fiscal rules – mean that Britain is now more resilient and better prepared to deal with future shocks.”

- Alistair Darling, 12th March 2008

This morning's media were predicting that today's economic data would confirm that Britain was OUT of recession.  Those predictions were wrong.  The UK economy shrank by 0.4% in Q3 according to the Office of National Statistics.  The economy has shrunk by 5.9% since the start of the recession.  We've been in recession six months longer than France and Germany.

This statement from George Osborne has just been released by CCHQ:

"This is deeply disappointing news.  Britain is now in the deepest and longest recession in its modern history. Britain's economy is still shrinking a full six months after France and Germany started growing. We now know that Gordon Brown's recession plan has not worked, and this news has destroyed Labour's claim that Britain was better placed than other countries to weather the storms. There is now no confidence in Gordon Brown's economic policies - he has no banking plan, no debt plan and no growth plan. The whole country is suffering from this lack of leadership. Britain urgently needs new economic leadership - and needs it now. We need a Conservative Government to Get Britain Working again."

Tim Montgomerie

* Quotes at top of this post provided by CCHQ press office.