Gloom 'not seen since Thatcher's 1980 strife'

BRITONS' despair about the economy and worry about immigration are laid bare in new figures.

- By David Williamson

Nearly seven out of 10 people — 68% — think the economy will get worse in the year ahead.

The last time so many said this after a government’s first year in office was in April 1980, when Margaret Thatcher battled industrial strife and high inflation.

In contrast, just one in four thought the economy would get worse a year after the election of John Major or Tony Blair.

A mere 12% of Britons in Sir Keir Starmer's Britain told pollsters Ipsos that they thought the economy would get better.

Women are more pessimistic than men, with 72% compared to 63% thinking it will worsen.