"Best placed"?

If the UK is "best placed" within the G7 to weather the recession then how come whilst the German and French economies both grew by 0.3% between April and June, the UK economy shrunk by a further 0.8%. Peter Mandelson is quoted as explaining the situation thus "Different economies will show different patterns of behaviour." Which is undeniably true but surely if the UK economy had really been "best placed" it would be leading the rest of the G7 out of recession not lagging behind.

Might the real explanation be that the UK economy was never "best placed" and that that claim was just another Brownie?