Britain's recovery slows sharply in pre-election setback for government

London

BRITAIN'S economy slowed sharply in the first three months of 2015, a setback for Prime Minister David Cameron who has staked his campaign for re-election next week on the strength of the recovery.

Gross domestic product grew by 0.3 per cent in the January-March period, the slowest quarterly rate since the end of 2012 when there were fears Britain was heading into recession.