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date: 27 August 2010

embargo: For immediate release

Spending cuts will kill jobs and growth prospects

Commenting on the latest estimate of 2010 second quarter GDP growth today (Friday) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'These growth figures do nothing to aid the Government's economic strategy. Without public investment they would have been significantly lower, and the spending cuts will reveal just how fragile the UK economy remains.

'Public investment accounted for at least 20 per cent of construction output - the fastest growing sector of the economy - and around 25 per cent of total quarterly output.

'Consumers, particularly those who work in the public sector or in jobs that depend on public spending, are increasingly nervous about the future. The big cuts threatened in the comprehensive spending review will hit both the private and public sectors. At worse we will suffer a double dip, and at best we can expect a glacially slow jobless recovery.

'There is still time to adopt an alternative approach of stimulating growth by maintaining spending and using a fairer tax system to ensure that those who gained most from the boom years now pay their fair share of undoing the damage they caused.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The latest ONS GDP growth estimate is available at www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/oie0810.pdf

- According to the latest ONS data on construction output, public investment accounted for 20 per cent of construction growth between the first and second quarters of 2010. www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/oec0810.pdf

- In addition to public investment in construction and business services, Government and other services accounted for 0.2 percentage points of the 1.2 percent total economic output in the second quarter of 2010.

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Press release (500 words) issued 27 Aug 2010