John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to today’s figures on GDP and real wages, said:

“Today’s GDP figures provide a stark contrast with the grim news on real earnings which remain 10 percent below their 2007 level. This is the worst performance of any major developed country other than crisis-ridden Greece and mean the Conservatives’ have created an economy where too many people and communities are left behind.

"The Tories’ failed austerity policy has produced a lost decade for earnings with ordinary households experiencing the worst decline in living standards in living memory.”

"It’s time for this Government to put an end to failure and call time on austerity. Chancellor Phillip Hammond needs to reverse his planned spending cuts with an urgent programme of investment in infrastructure and skills that will deliver the high-tech, high-wage economy where no one is left behind.”

ENDS