Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Osborne seizes on S&P ratings relief

You’d think that after the bad economic news of the past week, George Osborne might have reverted to submarine mode as soon as he possibly could, moving quietly under the cover of the Olympics. But this afternoon he has stuck a periscope up with this message: the world has confidence that Britain is dealing with its economic plan. It’s a bold statement to make after Wednesday’s GDP figures, and Labour has already mocked him for doing so, but Osborne is responding to the announcement overnight by Standard & Poor’s that the UK will continue to enjoy an AAA credit rating. The ratings agency said: ‘We project that, despite recent weakness, the UK economy should begin to recover in the second half of 2012 an steadily strengthen, and we expect economic policy to continue focusing on closing the fiscal gap.’ The Chancellor said this afternoon:

‘As Britain welcomes the world to our country for the Olympic games, this is a reminder that despite the economic problems we face, the world has confidence that we are dealing with them.

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