THE UK slumped to its worst trade deficit on record in June, according to official figures which show Chancellor George Osborne's vision of a "Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers" is far from the reality .
Goods exports plummeted from £25.6 billion in May to £23.45bn in June, the latest seasonally-adjusted figures from the Office for National Statistics show.
This was the key factor in the UK's total deficit on goods and services trade jumping from £2.72bn to £4.31bn – the widest since comparable records began in 1997.
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