End to Brexit uncertainty cannot come too soon for factories | Larry Elliott

The US-China trade war is also having an impact on manufacturing worldwide

The shockingly bad snapshot of industry from IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply puts Britain on recession alert. It doesn't mean a recession will inevitably materialise.

For that to happen, the poor performance of manufacturing would have to be matched by that of the service sector - and, so far at least, it hasn't been.

Related: UK factory output dives to seven-year low as Brexit fears rise