Britain’s economy was doing even better than previously thought before it ground to a halt under Labour, figures show.

The revised GDP data adds to the evidence of Rachel Reeves‘ dismal stewardship just days after the Budget watchdog halved its forecast for growth this year.

While under the Tories, the UK enjoyed the strongest expansion among all the G7 group of advanced economies in the first half of last year –with the economy described as ‘going gangbusters’ by the Office for National Statistics.

Now the ONS has revealed that period was even better than previously thought, with gross domestic product (GDP) expanding by 0.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, rather than 0.8 per cent.

And in the second quarter, GDP grew by 0.5 per cent, up from 0.4 per cent.

But there was no improvement since Labour took power, with zero growth in the third quarter and 0.1 per cent growth in the fourth quarter.

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said: ‘These growth figures prove what we knew all along – Rachel Reeves inherited the fastest growing economy in the G7 and brought it to a near standstill.

‘It should come as no surprise after Labour talked down the economy, raised taxes to record highs and sent business confidence tumbling. The emergency Budget showed more bad news is on the way – growth halved, inflation up and unemployment up – but the Chancellor still refuses to change course.’

The revised GDP data adds to the evidence of Rachel Reeves’ (pictured) dismal stewardship just days after the Budget watchdog halved its forecast for growth this year

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride (pictured) said Chancellor Reeves has brought the British economy to a ‘standstill’

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) and Chancellor Reeves have come under much scrutiny since they came to power last year

Ms Reeves spent much of her early period as Chancellor claiming that the economy was in poor shape because of the Conservatives.

But her gloom was blamed for dragging down business confidence. That was dented further when she staged a £25billion raid on employers’ National Insurance in last October’s Budget.

The policy is widely predicted to result in lower wages, fewer jobs and higher prices for consumers as firms pass on the cost of the rise.

Labour’s plan to introduce new workers’ rights has also crushed sentiment, while worries over Donald Trump’s tariffs have only added to the uncertainty for the year ahead.

This week, the Office for Budget Responsibility cut its outlook for growth for this year from 2 per cent to 1 per cent.

The ONS data also showed that households were putting aside a record proportion of their income as savings at the end of last year.

Ms Reeves spent much of her early period as Chancellor claiming that the economy was in poor shape because of the Conservatives

Rob Wood, from Pantheon Macroeconomics, said consumers had ‘reined back spending as they worried about tax hikes in October’.

However, in one bright spot for the economy, real household disposable income per head – a key measure of living standards – grew by 1.7 per cent in the final three months of last year.

Ms Reeves said yesterday: ‘Getting more money in working people’s pockets is my number one mission.

‘Living standards are growing at their fastest rate in two years, inflation fell this week and retail sales have improved.’