Lloyds' gloomy message on UK recovery is based on more than pessimism | Larry Elliott

Companies are stashing their government-funded bounce-back loans for good reasonWay back, when Britain had a much bigger industrial base than today, ICI’s results were seen as a sign of how well things were going. Times change and these days it is not a manufacturing giant like ICI but a high street bank that has taken on the role of the economy’s bellwether.If what’s happening at Lloyds Banking Group really is a reflection of what is happening to the UK as a whole – and