Data released on Friday illustrated the full potential of the slowdown in the UK economy. Retail sales fell by 1.9% month-on-month, following on from a 0.5% fall in February. This contributed to a year-on-year rise of just 0.9% versus market expectations of a rise of 3%.

Data for services output, the sector which makes up 80% of UK growth, was also released. This had been showing significant strength over the past few months, but in March, output fell back to 58.3 following an exceptionally strong read of 62.6 in February.

In most cases, analysts would have written off a single month’s poor data as a blip or an anomaly, but these figures fuelled concerns that the economy has seen the best of its recovery from the pandemic and the growing cost of living crisis is beginning to affect consumer confidence.

The fall in retail sales was particularly poignant, with fears growing that the raising of the energy cap is forcing people to choose more carefully how household budgets are spent.

The opposition have called for a Parliamentary debate on the crisis, which should include a supplementary budget.

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