Britain’s economy will grow about 4% this...

Britain’s economy will grow about 4% this year despite the recent stock market tumble, but growth may slow to 2.5% in 1988, Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson said. The chancellor’s optimistic forecast for 1987 was upgraded from a previous prediction of 3%, made earlier this year when the budget was presented for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 1988. Lawson said the strength of the economy “puts us in the best possible position to weather any storm.” However, Lawson’s statement was dismissed as “the usual sort of confidence trick,” by John Smith, the opposition Labor Party’s chief spokesman on economic affairs.