Julian Jessop, Economics Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, says:

“The UK is in a doom loop of a rising tax burden, a weaker economy and deteriorating public finances. These latest stats will only encourage the OBR and the government to double down on this doom loop by drawing the wrong conclusions from dubious data. If the Treasury takes the OBR’s grim forecast for economic growth as gospel and refuses to cut taxes, the doom loop will continue.”