Following news that wages fell behind inflation in February, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has said that the government can no longer deny that British workers are in the grip of a growing Brexit incomes squeeze.

Tim Farron said:

“Workers are now suffering a real fall in living standards. This is not a claim, it is a fact, and the blame lies firmly at the doors of Downing Street.

“The economy has been kept on the life support machine of consumer credit, but people are now clearly in the vice-like grip of a Brexit squeeze. A falling pound and rising prices are depressing sales, and wages simply can’t keep pace with inflation.

“Even at this late hour the Conservative Brexit government could steer the economy away from the rocks by announcing it wants Britain to remain in the single market. Philip Hammond knows what has to be done, and it is about time he laid it on the line to the Prime Minister.

“If the Chancellor and the governor of the Bank of England both know you can’t have a strong economy and a hard Brexit, why is the government steering the economy to disaster? The Conservatives have lost the right to call themselves the party of business and they have lost the last shred of economic credibility.”