No one's buying the Chancellor's foolish finger-pointing

POLITICS has always been a blame game, but Rachel Reeves deserves a red card for pointing the finger at Donald Trump for her economic woes. New figures show the economy shrank at the start of the year against economists' expectations. Whether economists are any good at having expectations is another story.

- Sam Lister Associate Editor

"The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable," one member of the esteemed profession, the late Ezra Solomon, joked.

But the lack of growth is devastating for the country and another black mark on the Chancellor's already dismal record. So she did what comes naturally to failing politicians — try to pin it on someone else.

"The world has changed and across the globe we are feeling the consequences," Reeves said.

Pressed on whether she was talking about Trump, the Chancellor added: "I believe, this Government believes, in free and open trade, and will continue to make that point."

The Donald is an easy target — hated on the Left, confusing for the Right and in another country. But while his tariff tombola is harming the global economy with its unpredictability, the impact of that is yet to filter through to growth figures.

THE OFFICE for National Statistics said the contraction in January was driven by a notable slowdown in manufacturing. Oil and gas extraction, and construction, had weak months too. Analysts were particularly gloomy in their responses, with one saying the figures "will probably disappoint even the pessimists".