Britain’s economic growth was cut in half in the second quarter of the year, official figures show, as businesses grappled with the effects of Rachel Reeves’s tax raid.
Gross domestic product (GDP) – the closely watched measure of economic growth – weakened from 0.7pc in the first quarter to just 0.3pc in the three months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The performance was better than analyst projections of a decline to 0.1pc.
The slowdown in Britain’s economy comes after the chancellor imposed increases in national insurance contributions on employers in April, as well as rises in the national minimum wage.
Ms Reeves will use her upcoming Budget to try to raise Britain’s dire productivity growth, which has fallen sharply since the financial crisis and threatens to blow an even bigger hole in the public finances.
