The gathering economic storm will break soon – and we are nowhere near ready

Those wishing to bury their heads in the sand in the hopes that the financial crisis awaiting us will blow over should think again, writes James Moore

Those financially secure face tough circumstances – everyone else faces disaster (PA)

The UK consumer has repeatedly bailed out the country’s economy when it has looked in danger of hitting the buffers – thanks to their spending power.

As such, a cursory glance at the headline numbers put out today by UK Finance, the banking trade body, could provide some comfort for the “recession might never happen so stop talking Britain down” brigade led by one Liz Truss.

Spending via debit and credit cards came in at £75bn, compared to £72bn in the first three months of the year. Rising prices obviously pushed the number up but it should be noted that the overall volume of transactions also rose. See! The consumer’s going to do the rest of the economy a favour. Even with all that inflation.