"You've never had it so good..."

[dutchman]

Britain’s economy has bounced back and is now bigger than it was before the financial crisis struck, official figures show.



David Cameron said the news was a "credit" to the hard work of the British people.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the UK’s national output - kept up the same strong pace it had set in the first three months of the year and expanded 0.8 per in the last quarter.

George Osborne, the Chancellor, described the news as a “major milestone” for the country but warned that “the Great Recession” was the deepest of any major economy and cost Britain six years.

The Prime Minister, said: "It is good news that, after all the hard work of the British people, the economy is now bigger than it was before the crash in 2008, and it is a credit to people’s hard work."

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister said: " Today is a big day for Britain - the rescue has worked: our economy is now larger than it was before the crash.”

The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) mark the UK's recovery from the deepest downturn in post-war history with the first official confirmation that the economy is now larger than the first three months of 2008 - when the big contraction began.

Britain's economy had largely flatlined after the recession began in 2008 but sprang back to life last year.

[rebbonk]

Yeah, and I believe in the Easter bunny and Father Christmas. Who does the fool from No.10 think he's fooling?

[dutchman]

Ed Balls attacks 'never had it so good' prime minister



Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has accused David Cameron of trying to ape one of his predecessors in No 10 by pretending people have "never had it so good".

Harold Macmillan used the phrase in a 1957 speech in Bedford, claiming most people were enjoying record prosperity.

Speaking in Bedford on Wednesday, Mr Balls said Mr Cameron was trying to convince people they were better off when real incomes were still falling.

Mr Balls also acknowledged Labour faced a "daunting task" if it regained power.

Figures published last week showed that UK economy has now exceeded its January 2008 pre-recession peak in terms of overall output, an event described as a "major milestone" by Chancellor George Osborne.

While it was welcome that the economy was growing, Mr Balls said it was wrong to characterise it as a "moment for celebration" when the UK was actually facing a "lost decade for living standards".

"Not only is it two years later than the chancellor's original plan said, and three years after the US reached the same point, it is also the case that, as our population has grown, GDP per head won't recover to where it was for around another three years," he said in a speech to local activists.
'Disbelief'

Labour has published analysis from the House of Commons library which it says suggests "working people" will have seen a bigger fall in wages between 2010 and 2015 than during any Parliament since 1874.

"Living standards are still squeezed and people are worried and insecure about the future," Mr Balls said.

"That old line Harold Macmillan line - 'you've never had it so good' - may have resonated in post-war Britain when he first used it here in Bedford as prime minister back in 1957.

"But nearly sixty years on, every time in Prime Minister's Questions that David Cameron tries to tell the British people that they've never had it so good, I fear it just prompts disbelief that he can be so out of touch."