Con-Lib Coalition clearly pretty keen to make the most of the renewed growth forecasts (out today) ... so I wonder what spin they'll try and put on the comments from the Chair of the new Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR):
Despite downgrading the growth figures, OBR chairman Sir Alan Budd said he did not think the recession had caused "permanent damage" to the economy. He added that the changes to the forecasts were "all within the normal range of uncertainty."
I'm fairly sure that's not what Cameron/Osborne/Clegg had in mind for him to say?
... and I'm glad to see that some journalists, at least, are seeing through the spin to the uncomfortable truth - that by 2014-15, the structural deficit is expected (even by the supposedly more accurate OBR) to be only 0.3% higher than forecast in Alistair Darling's last Budget.
And, of course, we'll see soon enough if the recent quarterly growth trends are maintained - over the short to medium term - in the face of the current onslaught on public sector expenditure?
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