UK economy is weak and stable said the UK’s chief financial analyst

UK economy is “weak and stable” said the UK governments  chief finance analyst, caused in part by Tory austerity.

The OBR (office for budget responsibility) chairman Robert Chote made use of Theresa Mays election mantra “strong and stable” to outline the very sluggish economic growth under her premiership.

Mr Chote was interviewed by the New Statesman and declared that the slow projected growth in the UK GDPS was caused in part due to the Conservatives austerity measures.

During the interview he said  “ Growth over the next few years is forecast to be weaker than it has been in subsequent years in large part because the spending and budget cuts are still intensifying”

In contrast to recent opinions from other interviewers he was of the opinion that Brexit was having a negative impact on the UK economy to date and that “ in relation to the effect on GDP, the fall off of demand has outweighed the boosts”

Mr Chote warned: “There’s essentially an even chance of a recession occuring in any five-year period if you rewind and look at the past statistics and patterns”. This essentially means there is a 50% chance of a recession in the UK over the next five years, based on the past patterns of such events.

“Boom and bust is not necessarily over.”

The OBRs role is to produce forecasts for the economy and UK finances and it also comments on the Governments fiscal policy which naturally involves monitoring and commentating on every annual Budget.

Mr Chote gave a muted and cautious reply to increased productivity figures, which comes after the OBR had actually lowered GDP growth predictions last year.

“The numbers are noisey, the rise and fall and we have had false dawns previously” he reported.

In alignment with these sentiments the head of the OBR said that although the GDP had experienced growth, it had done poorly when compared to the standards of previous recoveries.

The shadow chancellor for labour, John Mcdonnell was asked if the gloomy predictions were accurate, he said “this is a damning indictment of the past 7 years of Tory economic policies and is coming from one of the top economists in the country, it is yet another nail in the coffin for the Conservative government’s economic credibility”

The MP for Labour Chuka Umunna, who is a supporter of the Open Britain antiBrexit campaign said “ these words are a severe blow to the Conservative government’s argument for removing us from the EU” .

This comes as yet another damning indictment against the current governments financial policies from another senior civil servant.