Economic situation to worsen in Britain: Expert

A British economist has predicted that the UK’s weak economy will continue heading “downward” in the years to come, following the country’s decline in living standards status.

In an interview with Press TV’s program ‘The Monarchy’, the founder of Binary Economics, Rodney Shakespeare, said the economic situation will worsen in Britain.

“We are told that the UK is going into a triple-dip. That in itself is a lie because you see the metaphor of the dip implies recovery back again. The real reality is for the UK as it is for Europe and it is for the USA and Japan, is that we’re going downward,” he said.

Earlier this month, a study by Eurostat found that the UK had slipped two places on Europe’s league table for living standards to the sixth place in 2011.

The report also found that Britain fell behind Germany and Austria, mostly because of the squeeze on consumer spending.

“It doesn’t matter what the government figures are. When you talk to people, if they’re still in a job, you can feel that they are feeling increasingly a squeeze and screwed and the wise ones know that it’s going to get worse,” Shakespeare said.

According to a survey by Markit, the financial data provider, 43 percent of households believe their situation will deteriorate next year, while just 24 percent think they will see an improvement.