 "We are in debt crisis. You can't borrow your way out of debt"  What George Osborne did not mention in his speech is that Britain is in a growth crisis, too. Our gross domestic product grew by just 0.7 per cent in the first half of this year, well below expectations. a lack of demand is the central problem. No one is spending so the economy is not growing. The Chancellor has argued that cutting government debt will boost demand by encouraging businesses to invest. But it is not happening. The credit rating agency, Standard &amp; Poor's, said yesterday that "the official assumption that the private sector will quickly step in to replace the withdrawal of public spending may prove optimistic". S&amp;P projects growth next year of 1.8 per cent, well below the official forecast of 2.5 per cent. The alternative put forward by the Chancellor's critics is not for Britain to "borrow its way out of debt", but to ease up on the pace of cuts and tax rises in order to protect demand in the short term.  "For generations to come, people will say 'thank God we didn't join the euro' "  Mr Osborne showered William Hague with plaudits for his warnings in the late 1990s about the potential dangers of the single currency. But the British politician who played the key role in preventing Britain from joining the euro was Gordon Brown. as Chancellor, Mr Brown frustrated Tony Blair, who was keen on taking Britain into the single currency. and while euro membership would indeed have been economically disastrous for Britain, it will not be much better if the single currency unravels. Our three largest banks have extended some ?180bn to companies and governments in the struggling eurozone periphery. If those nations crash out of the single currency our banks will go bust and they will have to be rescued again by British taxpayers.  "I have set the Treasury to work on ways to inject money directly into parts of the economy that need it such as small business... it is known as credit easing"  This am 