We were told to prepare for a “Winter of Discontent”, of strikes, rising prices, a coming recession with our economy set this year to shrink unlike all the rest. Even Russia was going to fare better than the UK.

But it has not been as bad as once feared - so what is going on?

In today’s episode, Business Reporter Neil Macdonald discusses the state of our economy ahead of next week’s budget and whether a slightly improved outlook means energy prices can remain low and strikes could even come to an end.

Producer: Freya Pickford and Alice Wagstaffe