Echoes of dire 1970s in today's Britain

FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators march in a trades union organised protest opposed to British government policies outside Downing Street in London, Britain, June 18, 2022. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Plans for a high-wage, high-growth economy lie in ruins as Britain's Conservative prime minister struggles to answer a cost-of-living crisis, compounded by rising worker unrest.

It is December 1973 and the finance minister has privately warned the cabinet of Edward Heath that the country faces its gravest economic crisis since World War Two, according to classified records that are now publicly available.