London - Britain's economy grew far slower than expected in the first quarter of 2015, official data showed Tuesday, delivering a blow to the government just nine days before a general election.
Gross domestic product expanded by 0.3 percent between January and March compared with 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2014, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in an initial estimate.
GDP is the last major piece of data on the economy before Britain votes in a knife-edge election next week.
Opinion polls show Prime Minister David Cameron's centre-right Conservatives neck and neck with the main centre-left opposition Labour Party, which is led by Ed Miliband.
As neither is expected to win an outright majority in the election, they will likely have to team up with one or more smaller parties in order to govern, such as the Scottish National Party (SNP).
Cameron insisted the slowdown underlined the need to stick with the government's economic plan.
"They show that we cannot take recovery for granted, we can't take our growth for granted," the premier said on the campaign trail at a factory in North London.
"While you see insecurity and instability all over the world causing us difficulties, don't vote for instability here in Britain."
But Labour's top finance official Ed Balls countered: "While the Tories have spent months patting themselves on the back, these figures show they have not fixed the economy for working families."
AFP
