Business minister Baroness Vadera insisted the Government was in no way complacent about the depth of the recession after claiming to have seen some "green shoots" of economic recovery.

The peer - a senior Treasury adviser to Gordon Brown before joining the Government - told ITV News: "I am seeing a few green shoots but it's a little bit too early to say exactly how they'd grow."

She made clear that she was not predicting the end of the current downturn.

But political opponents said her comments showed ministers were "out of touch and insensitive" and living in a "parallel universe" as thousands more jobs were axed or threatened. The phrase has been politically charged since it was prematurely used by former Tory Chancellor Norman Lamont in an earlier downturn, which continued for a long time afterwards.

She said she had not meant to cause any offence.

"I spend, as a business minister, all of my time focusing on how we help businesses, employers and therefore people - and I would not want to be insensitive about that phrase, which we know has issues," she told the BBC.

"But let me be clear: we are under no circumstances complacent and indeed that is why we announced what we did just this morning (a package of help for small businesses) and we will carry on working and doing absolutely everything that we can because we know this is a difficult time."

Changes in the bonds market were said to be the positive signs she had identified.

In his Pre-Budget Report in November, Chancellor Alistair Darling forecast a return to growth in the second half of this year, though subsequent indicators have prompted speculation that he may be forced to revise this assessment in the spring Budget.

Lady Vadera was asked on ITV's Lunchtime News when she believed the UK could expect to see "green shoots". She replied: "It's a very uncertain world right now globally... I wouldn't want to be the one predicting it. I am seeing a few green shoots but it's a little bit too early to say exactly how they'd grow."

-Nova