Mervyn King got a bit sniffy the other day about what he called “the fuss” about the third-quarter GDP figure — the one showing Britain still mired in recession even as our major trading partners squelched out of the bog.

The Governor of the Bank of England is right not to give it much weight. It was only a single quarterly figure. It was provisional and may be revised upwards. And the more important thing is that other indicators show clear signs that Britain is clawing its way out of the downturn.

Yet I’m afraid we will worry away at that wretched figure (-0.4 per cent, if you need reminding), especially after fresh GDP data yesterday showed Germany, France and Italy all positive and pulling further away. We are rapidly acquiring a reputation as one of the laggards of the recovery, alongside Spain and Greece.

There are valid reasons why Britain will struggle more than others to extricate itself from recession. Our wounded financial services sector is proportionately bigger. Our Government’s finances are weaker. But we have advantages too. The exchange rate can take much of the strain, an option not really open to eurozone countries.

Fingers crossed for November 25, when that baleful number is due to be revisited.

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