Swati Dhingra of the Bank of England: ‘Are we going to end up deepening the recession?’

In her first interview since joining the monetary policy committee, Britain's newest interest-rate setter warns that inflation is not the biggest threat to the economy - because the slowdown is here'

As the newest policymaker at the Bank of England responsible for setting interest rates, Swati Dhingra can see a problem. Britain's economy is heading for a lengthy and painful recession, while Brexit is making matters worse.

After a year of the central bank driving up borrowing costs - the equivalent of stamping hard on the economic brakes - to tackle rampant inflation, the London School of Economics academic worries that much tougher action could intensify the crash.