“Thank goodness for the Americans.” The sigh of relief from Juliana Delaney, the boss of Continuum Attractions, came last week just a few breaths after she warned that Britons were cutting back.
Continuum, which runs tourist attractions from the shores to the seafront at Portsmouth, said Americans were bucking a trend of squeezed incomes and less spending.
Delaney’s comments were telling. The world’s biggest economy has pulled ahead of the UK and the rest of Europe on an array of economic measures since the financial crisis of 2008.
What began as a small disparity has become a chasm that has left Britain facing questions about whether it has the work ethic to close the gap.
Trailing not leading
Jeremy Hunt wanted to start the New Year talking about growth. “Declinism about Britain is just wrong,” the Chancellor told an audience of tech bosses and journalists in January.
A few moments later he…
