The Observer view on the UK economy: Labour is holding back when it should be bold

‘Zero growth over a two-month period is never a reason for panic’ – but it does illustrate the problem the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has inherited from the Conservatives. Photograph: Darren Staples/PA

Rachel Reeves had some sobering news last week about the UK economy and how much it grew in July. The message from the Office for National Statistics was that it didn’t. And that it flatlined in the previous month as well.

Zero growth over a two-month period is never a reason for panic. What it does indicate though is that the economic inheritance left by Rishi Sunak lacks the momentum claimed by the former Conservative administration.