British economy faces recession after zero growth

Britain faced the threat of a recession on Friday after official figures showed the economy stuttered to a halt in the second quarter with its weakest performance for 16 years.
The news is a major blow to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown whose governing Labour Party faces a hammering in the opinion polls and who had prided himself on his record of economic prudence when finance minister.
In reaction, the British pound dropped close to two-year lows against the dollar but stocks got a boost on the view the Bank of England is now more likely to cut interest rates in an effort to boost the slowing economy.
Prior to the three months to June, the British economy had enjoyed 63 consecutive quarters of expansion, much of which had been under Brown's tenure as chancellor of the exchequer between 1997 and 2007.
The 15-nation eurozone economy, of which Britain is not a member, also slumped towards recession in the second quarter as it shrunk for the first time in its short history, adding to the uncertain outlook.