Labour cause a recession twice as deep as 1990s.

No wonder Gordon lost the by-election! The useless term serving, unelected snot munched could not run a whelk store.

The recession-blighted UK economy shrank by a far worse than expected 0.8 per cent between April and June, gloomy official estimates showed today.

The fifth successive quarter of decline is much bigger than the 0.3 per cent fall in output forecast by economists and deals a blow to recovery hopes.
The economy has slumped 5.6 per cent since the second quarter of 2008, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said - the biggest fall since its records began in 1955.

The economy has now shrunk by 5.7 per cent since the first quarter of last year, the ONS said - more than double the depth of the early 1990s recession and approaching the level of the slump seen in the early 1980s.

Although today's figures bettered the 2.4 per cent contraction seen in the first three months of 2009 - the worst since 1958 - experts were hoping for a much bigger improvement in the economy.

A 0.7 per cent decline in output from business services and finance was the biggest driver behind the 0.8 per cent fall in output in the second quarter of the year, the statistics showed.

The services industry - accounting for almost three-quarters of overall economic output - showed a 0.6 per cent decline.

Construction industry output fell 2.2 per cent over the quarter and is now 14.7 per cent below the same period last year, which is the biggest fall since records began in 1948.

Production industry output - such as construction, mining and manufacturing - fell 0.7% between April and June, the ONS added.

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