The Irish Fine Gael politician replied: “Boom times are back so…” Mr Neil shut down the mocking response, saying: “NO boom. No recession. A little worse than France. Better than Germany. A lot better than Italy.” He added sarcastically: “What else can I help you with?”

The BBC host’s comments come after the latest financial data showed the UK economy growing once again following a previous quarter of contraction.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the economy looks set to skyrocket as it avoided entering a recession after it grew by 0.3 percent in the third quarter of this year.

The massive bounce back follows a 0.2 percent drop in GDP for the previous three months and comes amid warnings Labour would plunge Britain into an economic crisis “within months” of getting into power.

The improvement in the economy’s performance will be driven by the UK’s dominant services sector, which accounts for 81 percent of total economic output (GDP).

The news will likely boost Boris Johnson’s election hopes – growth in the third quarter means that the economy avoids going into a recession at a critical moment in the electoral race.

However, the good news has been tempered by Bank of England warnings last week that the UK economy still faces serious challenges from a deteriorating global outlook and the continuing effect of Brexit uncertainty on business and household spending.

The delay to Brexit looks set to dampen growth once again in the final quarter, although economic prospects are expected to improve once Brexit is completed.

Brexit uncertainty has been at the heart of the economy’s wildly fluctuating fortunes during 2019.

Meanwhile, in Germany, Europe’s largest economy has seen yet another fall in industrial production, adding to fears it could be headed for its first recession in six years.

The German economy contracted by 0.1 percent in the second quarter, as Europe’s economic powerhouse teeters on the brink of recession.

Market uncertainty, driven by Brexit, has seen German trade with the UK fall by more than £6.9 billion in the last three years, according to Alexander Borsch, the chief economist at Deloitte.

Recent data has suggested continued weakness in manufacturing in the third quarter, which could put the country in recession – generally defined as two straight quarters of contraction.

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