The “new sick man of Europe” was how I described the UK in my recent New Statesman cover piece. Philip Hammond’s second Budget confirmed Britain’s undesirable status. The growth figures that the Chancellor revealed at the outset of his speech were stunningly poor.
GDP growth this year will be 1.5 per cent before falling to 1.4 per cent in 2018, 1.3 per cent in 2019 and 2020, and eventually rising to 1.5 per cent in 2021 and 1.6 per cent in 2022. For the first time in modern history, growth is expected to be below 2 per cent in every forecast year. (Meanwhile, GDP per capita will grow by just 0.9 per cent in 2017, then 0.8 per cent, 0.7 per cent, 0.7 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 1.0 per cent.)
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