The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product shrank by 0.3 per cent in April - the worst monthly performance for a year and a half.

In a blow that makes a mockery of the Chancellor's claim to have 'fixed the foundations' of the economy, official figures showed a quarter of a million jobs have gone since her…

Britain’s economy shrank at the start of the second quarter, official figures show, in a blow for the Chancellor just a day after her spending review.