MP, Labour’s Shadow
Chancellor, responding
to four successive quarters of negative
productivity growth, said:
“This is an absolutely damning indictment of successive Tory
governments’ appalling record on productivity.
“With our economy shrinking last quarter, business investment
tumbling, and scandal after scandal in the finance sector, it’s
clear that the Conservatives cannot be trusted on the economy.
“A Labour Government will invest in our public services,
establish a National Transformation Fund, and set up a National
Investment Bank, to boost our economy and tackle the
productivity crisis so badly neglected by the Tories.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The ONS productivity flash estimate shows that output per hour
fell by 0.6% in Q2 2019 compared to the same quarter in the
previous year, a much bigger decrease than the decrease in Q1
2019: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/productivitymeasures/articles/gdpandthelabourmarket/apriltojune2019.
The ONS has confirmed that this is the fourth consecutive
quarter of negative quarter-on-year growth rates.
Analysis by the New Economics Foundation released yesterday
pointed to increasing evidence that a lack of business
investment explains the UK’s poor productivity performance, and
noted the need for public investment as a solution to flagging
productivity:https://neweconomics.org/uploads/files/NEF_PRODUCTIVITY-2019.pdf
