Thu, 12 Feb 2026

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 Reeves says 'more to do' after sluggish GDP growth

The chancellor's comments came after figures showed the UK economy saw a lacklustre end to 2025.

* The UK economy grew by just 0.1% in the last three months of 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
* This was slower than economists had expected and marked a subdued end to the year.
* Chancellor Rachel Reeves said there was "more to do" but pointed out that the economy's overall growth for 2025 was 1.3%, which topped analysts' forecasts.
* The services sector, which accounts for around 80% of the UK's economic output, flatlined in the last quarter of 2025.
* The construction sector suffered its worst quarterly performance in four years.
* Reeves said that 2026 would be the year when the British public start to feel the positive impacts of Labour's changes and predicted a pick-up in growth.
* Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride accused Labour of "weakening" the economy, while the Liberal Democrats said the government's policies had "killed off the economic recovery".
* Business leaders are concerned about rising costs and taxes, with some reporting difficulties in hiring staff due to increased wages.
* The Bank of England has cut its forecast for economic growth this year to 0.9% and raised its expectation for the unemployment rate.
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