John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor responding to publication today by the ONS of UK Trade Figures, said:

“Today’s trade figures offer no comfort to George Osborne as he tries to get his excuses in early. The fall in British manufacturing exports shows once again that we have a Chancellor who has totally neglected his responsibilities towards British manufacturing. 

"This is the same Chancellor who sat on his hands as the vital strategic industry of steel faced devastation just before Christmas. 

"With the global economy looking shaky, we need a government and a Chancellor prepared to support businesses and workers, not one desperately looking for someone else to blame. 

"The British economy is weaker because of this Chancellor’s austerity. It’s time for George Osborne to take some responsibility, admit he was wrong, and set a new course for real investment in the infrastructure, skills and technology we need.”