Osborne's economic warning as FTSE falls

UK Chancellor George Osborne has warned a potential slowdown in China and conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East could hit the British economy.

UK Chancellor George Osborne has warned a potential slowdown in China and conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East could hit the British economy.

In a statement to the media, released ahead of today’s address to business leaders in Cardiff, Osborne said he is concerned about a “creeping complacency” in national attitudes towards the UK economy.

The statement was released hours before China suspended its stock market for the second day in a week as the Shanghai Index dropped by more than seven per cent.

Traders on the FTSE 100 reacted with the index trading around the 5,900 mark at 1000 hrs GMT – a drop of some 2.8 per cent.

Osborne will warn delegates in the Welsh capital that 2016 could be the “beginning of a decline” for the UK without further work to sustain the recovery.

In the pre-released statement, he stated: “Anyone who thinks it’s mission accomplished with the British economy is making a grave mistake. 2016 is the year we can get down to work and make the lasting changes Britain so badly needs.

“Last year was the worst for global growth since the crash and this year opens with a dangerous cocktail of new threats. For Britain, the only antidote to that is confronting complacency and sticking to the course we’ve charted.”

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