Bust returns to Britain
Updated on 24 October 2008
Gordon Brown comes out fighting as figures confirm that Britain is on the brink of a "dark and deep" recession for the first time in 16 years.
Over the years, Gordon Brown has regularly boasted about ending boom and bust, but the figures show that output fell by a higher than expected 0.5 per cent between July and September.
It is the biggest drop since the start of 1990s, and the markets reacted accordingly, frantically selling stocks and sterling.
Oil prices have continued to fall, despite a call from the producers' cartel, Opec, to reduce flows.
