AS excuses go, Chancellor George Osborne's latest attempt to blame the eurozone for the lack of balance in the UK's economic recovery is right up there with "the dog ate my homework".

And it is not the first time during his four-and-a-half years in his post that he has been quick to point the finger at someone or something else when UK economic troubles have flared up.

That is not to say that Mr Osborne or Prime Minister David Cameron believe there is much wrong with the UK economy. In fact, with spin and form over substance far too often the order of the day for the pair, they appear to be pretty chuffed with how they are doing. To listen to them at the recent Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, you could have been forgiven for thinking they had created some kind of economic utopia.

And, in terms of polls showing the Conservatives remain relatively highly-rated by the electorate in terms of economic stewardship, the flannel from Messrs Cameron and Osborne appears to be paying off for them.

However, they cannot talk away the reality of the situation.

What we actually have is a manufacturing sector which appears to be grinding to a halt, again. Mr Osborne does not talk about "the march of the makers" any more, having relied heavily on this sound-bite in his March 2011 Budget.

We also have a runaway housing market which will surely come back to bite the UK economy at some point, as it always does. Much of the heat may be concentrated in London and south-east England but the market is looking pretty warm in other places too. And you can be pretty sure it will be the UK as a whole which pays the price for the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition's ill-judged and short-term moves to boost the housing market ahead of next May's General Election.

We also have the seemingly relentless fall in real wages and associated decline in living standards for most of the population, which have been key features of the Coalition's term.

The sorry truth is that the UK economy remains in a fragile state.

The Bank of England yesterday held UK base rates at their record low of 0.5 per cent, again. It is not for nothing that rates are at rock-bottom.

Then again, Mr Osborne might prefer rates to stay there until the election, given that a rise could prick his housing market bubble at a most politically inconvenient time.

Addressing the Conservative Party conference last week, Mr Cameron said: "On the things that matter in your life, who do you really trust? When it comes to your job … do you trust Labour - who wrecked our economy - or the Conservatives, who have made this one of the fastest-growing economies in the west?"

Even given politicians' capacity for flannel, these remarks beggar belief.

It is worth pointing out Labour did not wreck the economy. The 2008/09 recession resulted from the global financial crisis. But you would expect Mr Cameron to try to make political capital out of the painful recession.

And it is the end of Mr Cameron's second question which contains more spin than one of Australian cricketing legend Shane Warne's deliveries.

Mr Cameron did not bother mentioning that it took the UK more than five years to regain its pre-2008/09 recession level of output, amid his government's excessive and poorly-targeted austerity. Germany and the US returned to pre-recession levels of output much more quickly.

He did not dwell on signs the latest manufacturing recovery is running out of steam. Mr Cameron did not focus on the fall in real incomes. He did not talk about the food banks, a remarkable feature for any developed country.

And he did not address the impact of further swingeing cuts in welfare provision on the economy. He has no excuse on this score because it is not difficult to foresee the effect. Welfare cuts, as we have seen in recent years, suck demand straight out of the economy because most people on low incomes spend all they have to live.

Figures on Tuesday from the Office for National Statistics showed UK manufacturing output stagnated in the three months to August. A survey last week from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and a report yesterday from the British Chambers of Commerce both signalled a sharp slowdown in manufacturing growth. And British Chambers, amid weakening export growth, has talked about hearing an "alarm bell" for the UK economy.

In contrast to the soft indicators on manufacturing, a Halifax survey on Wednesday showed annual UK house price inflation continuing to run at about 10 per cent in September. Given falling real incomes, surging house prices must have a great deal to do with the huge measures put in place by the Coalition to inflate the residential property market.

Mr Osborne yesterday said eurozone troubles were "already having an impact on our manufacturing and our exports". And he declared the Coalition's economic plan was working.

It is no surprise British Chambers is hearing an alarm bell. It has been ringing for a while, and quite loudly.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, there looks to be no prospect of this alarm bell waking Mr Osborne and his Coalition colleagues from their dream that all is going swimmingly.