Labor Leader Miliband: UK Govt leads Economy into recession

The Labor leader Ed Miliband has accused the British Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne of sinking the country’s economy into a double-dip recession.

Speaking at a question and answer session on London’s South Bank, Miliband said that although the economy had been “recovering strongly two years ago,” it was now facing “a recession made in Downing Street.” 

However, David Cameron admitted on Sunday that British economy shrank by 0.2 percent in 2012’s first quarter, which is Britain’s first double-dip recession since 1975, but he blamed the eurozone crisis for the current situation. 

Defending austerity measure, Cameron insisted “what we mustn’t do is throw away our plans for making sure public spending is properly reduced in the appropriate areas.” 

Meanwhile, a new Sunday Times/YouGov poll showed that 32% of Britons blame the country’s return to recession on UK government policies, 29% on the eurozone and global factors, and 17% on the previous Labor government. 

The International Labour Organization (ILO) also warned that the global employment situation is “alarming” and unlikely to improve in the near future, raising concerns that austerity measures, especially in advanced economies, were hurting job creation. 

“Austerity on its own doesn’t work,” the lead author of the ILO’s report, Raymond Torres said. 

“It is counter-productive. Instead of promoting growth and confidence, it reduces confidence and growth. Instead of reducing deficits, it keeps high deficit all the time.”, according to press TV.