THE coalition’s promised recovery exists only on George Osborne’s spreadsheets, the chancellor’s critics warned yesterday amid Con-Dem crowing.

Front-bench Tories proclaimed a “major milestone” as they touted figures suggesting Britain’s economy had finally escaped a six-year economic crisis.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed that gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.8 per cent in the three months to May, taking the size of the economy 0.2 per cent above the level of 2008 when the crisis began.