Boris Johnson has been reminded of pledges to make a TV apology if Brexit triggers a recession after UK GDP slipped into negative growth.
The UK economy contracted for the second month in a row in April in the first back-to-back fall since the pandemic struck in 2020 as the cost-of-living crisis took its toll.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the size of the economy, fell by 0.3 per cent in April, with all three main sectors suffering a fall in output for the first time since January 2021.
April’s drop in GDP was also the biggest contraction since January 2021 and follows a fall of 0.1 per cent in March.
Experts had been expecting a 0.1 per cent rise in GDP in April.
The ONS said it marked the first time GDP has fallen for two months in a row since March and April 2020, when the pandemic first hit and sent the economy tumbling.
There were declines in the manufacturing and construction sectors, down 1 per cent and 0.4 per cent in April respectively, with manufacturers in particular noting the impact of soaring prices and supply chain woes.
In 2016, just days ahead of the Brexit referendum, Boris Johnson appeared on LBC to calm concerns about the potential pitfalls of Brexit.
One caller asked the Vote Leave advocate: “If we Brexit and we go into recession, would you have the political courage, to go on TV … and say sorry, I made it wrong and I apologise?”
Johnson promised he would apologise were the UK to slide into recession post-Brexit. “Of course I will,” he said. “I’m not certain what my political career holds anyway. This is far more important than any individual political career.
“I don’t think London has anything to fear from coming out of the EU, and neither does Britain. When has our country ever gone wrong by believing in ourselves?”
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