Sterling dips as ONS figures support case that economy is slowing

The pound has taken a hit after official figures showed a widening of the UK's trade gap and weaker than expected industrial output - bolstering evidence a Brexit-linked slowdown is now biting.While growth remained resilient in 2016 - defying predictions of a recession in the event of a Leave vote in last June's EU referendum - the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported a weakening picture since.It gave an initial estimate of GDP growth of 0.3% for the first three months of the year -