Will the UK enter a recession after Britain’s GDP shrinks unexpectedly?

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has made growth a central Labour mission - (PA Wire)

The UK economy unexpectedly shrunk by 0.1 per cent in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in a massive blow to Labour’s growth agenda.

The figure comes just weeks before Rachel Reeves’s spring statement on 26 March, when the chancellor will give her updated plans for the UK economy. Billions in welfare cuts and reduced spending for other departments are widely expected to form part of her announcement.