Coming just days after Alistair Darling delivered one of the bleakest Budgets in Britain’s history, the news that the economy shrank by 1.9 per cent in the first quarter thickened the storm clouds gathering over the chancellor.

The figures appeared to confirm the widespread belief on Budget day that Mr Darling had been over-optimistic in predicting that a speedy return to rapid growth would put the public finances back on a prudent trajectory.