Economic growth in the UK is now more ahead of the world’s biggest economies than had been previously thought, which has been seized on by the Conservatives as proof that their policies have delivered results.
The UK’s economy grew by 2.8 per cent last year, up from the 2.6 per cent predicted. This was supported by a growth in exports, increased business for service companies, and evidence that consumers are getting back into the spending habit.
Seizing on the numbers, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said consumer confidence is at a 12-year high and that living standards are now higher than they were five years ago, according to the Office of National Statistics numbers.
Spending grows
Household spending grew by 0.3 per cent in the last quarter of last year, while disposable income was up by 1.8 per cent, putting the amount people have to spend up 2.2 per cent on May 2010, according to one measure.
Even more significantly, perhaps, the improving economic numbers appear to be accelerating, though this may back up Conservatives’ fears that the election has had to be held six months too soon.
Not all is rosy, however. The UK’s current account deficit – the gaps between the value of goods and services imported and exported – now stands at 4.8 per cent, the highest recorded since records began in 1948.
Earlier, prime minister David Cameron claimed the Conservatives would create 2.2 million jobs, exceeding the 1.9 million that were created by businesses since 2010 – the fastest rate of job creation in the EU, even if many of the jobs are poorly paid.
Increasingly, Mr Cameron is being pressed to explain where £12 billion (€16.4 billion) worth of welfare savings will come from, since it is a key part of his pledge to cut £30 billion (€42 billion) a year from public spending over the life of the next parliament.
Lack of clarity
Labour
believes that Cameron’s lack of clarity up to now will cause doubts amongst low- and middle-income families, who will fear that some of their benefits could be targeted.
Ruling out cuts to disability payments, Cameron said: “The most disabled should always be protected, we look after those in need; and, third, people who have paid into the system and look forward to a dignified retirement, we should look after them too, as we’ve done.”
So far the election campaign has yet to catch fire, with Labour and the Tories embroiled in arcane disputes about statistics that have yet to clearly engage with the public.
The campaign will peak after the Easter holiday break, though, privately, Conservatives fret as they look for signs that the opinion polls will start to move their way – which Cameron’s election strategist, Lynton Crosbie, has been telling them for months will happen.
