Gordon gets the news?

Prime Minister Gordon Brown was once again in headless chicken mode this morning as a raft of bad economic news poured into Number Ten at first light

The FTSE fell off a cliff this morning on the news that Eurozone growth figures are far worse than expected. Germany’s near-zero performance was a particular shock, but the one worrying Eurobankers most is the Spanish figure of seven straight periods of decline…with some signs of a deepening problem.

To add to Brown’s woes, Renault yesterday forecast an eye-popping ten per cent cut in demand for new cars in the coming twelve months….but BMW notes a 10% growth in Chinese auto parts. These two news items spell out the Eurozone (and our) problem: short term fiscal and recovery problems + longer-term loss of market share to the East.

The Slog has learned that over at the Treasury, Alistair Darling was ‘surprised’ by the figures; so there is at least something we can rely on.
But there’s little or nothing to laugh at in all this: Eastern markets were totally unconvinced by the EU measures to ‘help’ Greece overnight – and as of 10.47 this morning, the FTSE had fallen just over 0.5% in fifty minutes….as did the Euro – making British exports more expensive.
“Looks like the election has slipped back to May again” one insider told us in the last hour.

UPDATE AT 16.35: DOW JONES DOWN 1.2%. Clearly, Eurozone balm about Greece hasn’t worked.