The British economy unexpectedly shrank during January, piling pressure on Treasury chief Rachel Reeves before a key statement about the state of the public finances later this month.

The slowdown in January piles further pressure on Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer ahead off this month’s spring statement

Britain's economic output contracted unexpectedly by 0.1% in January, pulled down by a sharp drop in manufacturing output compared with December, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.