BRITAIN’S austerity economy lurched shakily yesterday amid gloom from cuts-obsessed Tories and fresh warnings of the growing disconnect between headline “growth” and tumbling living standards.

Officially the economy grew sluggishly by 0.7 per cent between July and September — a marked slowdown on a paltry 0.9 per cent between April and June.

Even usually smug millionaire Chancellor George Osborne could not ignore the impact of cuts policies after the 2008 banking crisis which have sparked a sharp decline in fortunes across Europe.