LONDON, July 12 Reuters Britain39;s new government has inherited an economy that is gathering momentum but the recent, strongerthanexpected growth figures do not mean Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his team have found a way out of their bind on public spending.

Over the three months to May, economic growth was the strongest in more than two years, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

In May alone, the economy grew by 0.4, double the forecast in a Reuters poll of economists and adding to signs that last year39;s shallow recession is firmly in the rearview mirror.

The question two months ago was whether growth would reach 1.0 this year. It is now possibly whether it will hit 1.5, Philip Shaw, an economist with Investec, a bank, said.

Since the COVID pandemic, Britain39;s economy has been the secondweakest among the Group of Seven nations after Germany, adding to the drag on incomes that, adjusted for inflation, have struggled to gain since the 20072009 financial crisis.

Slow growth is also limiting the new government39;s ability to offer quick progress on fixing the country39;s strained health system and other public services, given Starmer39;s promise to voters not to raise the main forms of taxation.

Starmer says he will get Britain back to its 2.5 growth pace of the early 2000s with a combination of reforms to the restrictive planning system that has thwarted homebuilding and new infrastructure, support for strategic sectors and providing the…