It's the way I tell 'em

Those of a certain age will remember a Northern Irish comedian in the 1980s called Frank Carson. He had a routine of corny jokes and often used the catch-phrase in the title above

We were reminded of Frank ( Look him up on You Tube if you are not of a certain age!!) when listening to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt the other day.

One of the statistics he likes to quote when giving a sunny outlook on the economic record of the Conservatives is that our economy was the fastest growing in the G7 last year

Cant be any clearer than that!

Well it all depends on your perspective. What he doesn't say is that because the UK collapsed by more than most other economies during the pandemic and took longer to recover when you change the period being considered the rosy interpretation disappears . The Organisation National Statistics has shown that the UK's GDP growth between the final quarter of 2019 (pre-pandemic) and the final quarter of 2022, was the lowest in the G7, at -0.8%. Indeed we are the only major economy that is smaller now than before the pandemic struck

Mr Hunt also omits to say that looking forward Britain's economy is expected to perform the worst of any G20 nations apart from Russia both this year and next according to the international body the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Sure his boast that we will avoid recession may be true but it is little consolation to all those being squeezed by high inflation and low wage rises

It expects a 0.2 per cent fall in UK gross domestic product this year the only big economy other than Russia which will shrink this year followed by a rise of 0.9 per cent next year.

Obviously it isn't only Frank who knows how to spin a bad joke!