Economy in the recovery position

There maybe some "green shoots" – but growth of 0.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2009 hardly constitutes major grounds for optimism. And all it will take is another spell of prolonged cold weather to kill off any immediate prospects of revival.

This modest increase, if that, could not have been more disappointing, given the extent to which Ministers and economists raised expectations. As one leading commentator later said, the growth figure is "better than nothing – but not by much".

A clearer picture will emerge in the coming quarter, with consumers, and especially businesses, set to rein in their spending now VAT has returned to its original 17.5 per cent rate. These statistics are out in April, two weeks before the likely May 6 election date.

They are likely to be pivotal to the election's outcome. In some

respects, the political uncertainty is not helping the country. Everything is being geared towards the polling day – and not the tough public spending decisions that continue to be put on hold.

As such, it is up to Mr Brown, after nearly 13 years running the economy, to show why he should still command the public's support after the longest, and deepest, slump for decades,

The last G20 industrialised country to emerge from a state of recession, albeit tentatively, yesterday's figures were also miniscule compared with the growth witnessed when the French and German economies returned to prosperity.

There's another difference. Neither France nor Germany were saddled with the level of deficit that Britain had as it went into the red – and which has multiplied over the past 18 months as a result of the bank bail-out, quantitative easing and the acceleration of key infrastructure projects in a bid to safeguard jobs.

While low interest rates have helped to minimise job losses and repossessions – a key difference from the recession of the early 1990s – Mr Brown has to accept that this is no consolation to the 2.5 million people who are still out of work, and all those families who have lost their homes.

And, unless he moves quickly, he, too, will be joining them in early

May.