Jeremy Hunt said this morning's data published by the Office for National Statistics (see the post below at 08.04) suggested the UK's economic outlook is "looking brighter than expected". 

The Chancellor said: "The economic outlook is looking brighter than expected - GDP grew in the three months to February and we are set to avoid recession thanks to the steps we have taken through a massive package of cost of living support for families and radical reforms to boost the jobs market and business investment."

Chris Philp, the policing minister, said the International Monetary Fund's economic forecasts are often "unduly pessimistic" as he dismissed the organisation's gloomy prediction for the UK (see the post below at 08.04). 

Mr Philp was asked if he was concerned by the forecast and by the latest Office for National Statistics numbers which showed growth flatlined in February this year. 

He told Sky News: "Well, first of all these IMF forecasts often are unduly pessimistic. We have got a track record in the UK of consistently outperforming the IMF forecasts."

Told that growth had flatlined in February, Mr Philp said: "Obviously we would like to see growth and in fact in 2021 we the UK had record GDP growth in the G7. In 2022 we also had record growth, the highest growth rather, amongst G7 countries. 

"We have had two straight years of top G7 growth. We would obviously like to continue that trend."

UK economic growth flatlined in February, according to data published this morning by the Office for National Statistics. 

No economic growth was recorded in February, with teacher and civil service strikes acting as a drag on gross domestic product as thousands of workers walked out. 

Looking more broadly, the economy grew by just 0.1 per cent in the three months to February.

The numbers came just days after the International Monetary Fund forecast the UK economy will grow slower than all other G7 nations.