A CONSERVATIVE MP has been caught out live on air after she claimed the UK economy is doing better than the rest of the G7.
Appearing on BBC Politics Live just ahead of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Budget, Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford expressed her optimism for the UK economy.
Speaking just after the Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed the UK is now in a recession, Ford claimed Britain is still doing better than the likes of America and France.
She said: “Actually, the UK is better off in our growth numbers than France, Germany, Italy, USA, Canada – do you want me to continue?”
Immediately after, the politician was shown a graph which contracted her claims.
Host Jo Coburn said: “We are going to show, just before you go, this graph which actually stands in stark contrast to what you just said.
“Economic growth since Covid-19. I will tell you the figures of G7 countries. The United States there at the top at 4.2% and the United Kingdom at the very bottom behind Canada, Italy, France, Japan and Germany at -0.4%.”
If this happened to me I would simply sink into the ground and never appear in public again pic.twitter.com/XCtAZlhWqZ
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) November 17, 2022
But Ford doubled down, replying: “And the IMF is forecasting this year we will be ahead of all the others. We have to look forward.”
While the IMF has predicted the UK will see the highest growth of any G7 country for 2022 that is in the context of seeing the worst growth of any G7 country since Covid.
And the UK was the only major economy to shrink in the three months to September.
It also follows an updated IMF forecast which predicts the UK will see the second-worst growth in the G7 in 2023 at 0%.
Germany’s economy is predicted to shrink by 0.7% while the rest are expected to grow – although a lot slower than 2022 predictions.
