GB News halts for major breaking alert in embarrassing blow to Keir Starmer

GB News came to an unexpected halt as Ellie Costello issued an urgent breaking news update about the rising unemployment rates in the UK. On Tuesday (November 11), the 31-year-old broadcaster and her co-host Christopher Hope returned to the airwaves, where they discussed the biggest stories hitting the headlines. But halfway through their morning breakfast show, the pair were forced to disrupt their segment on the ongoing BBC scandal to issue some breaking news.

The blonde broadcaster revealed that the UK's unemployment rate has risen to a level not seen since late 2020, according to official figures released ahead of the winter budget. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a figure of 5% covering the three months to September - up from 4.8% reported last month.

This was a much larger leap than economists had predicted, the highest level since December 2020 - February 2021. The rate stood at 4.1% when Labour took office last year. And there was no better news for the chancellor in the wider, experimental HMRC data released by the ONS, which showed a decline of 32,000 in payrolled employment during October.

That suggested a pause to a more recent trend of declines slowing since sharp falls first witnessed back in spring this year. It was in April that measures introduced by Rachel Reeves' first budget came into effect, with hikes in the minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions impacting employment and investment sentiment in the private sector.

It also coincided with peak US trade war uncertainty, as Donald Trump ramped up his tariffs. ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said of the new data: "Taken together, these figures point to a weakening labour market. The number of people on payroll is falling, with revised tax data now showing falls in most of the last 12 months.

"Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is up in the latest quarter to a post-pandemic high. The number of job vacancies, however, remains broadly unchanged. Wage growth in the private sector slowed further, but we continue to see stronger public sector pay growth, reflecting some pay rises being awarded earlier than they were last year."

Private sector wage growth has also slowed, while public sector pay continues to rise, partly due to earlier-than-usual awards. The cooling jobs market and easing wage pressures could strengthen the case for a Bank of England rate cut next month, provided inflation continues to retreat.

The data comes ahead of the chancellor's second budget on November 26. Responding to the latest unemployment figures, Work and Pensions Secretary Pay McFadden said: "Over 329,000 more people have moved into work this year already, but today's figures are exactly why we're stepping up our plan to get Britain working.

"We've introduced the most ambitious employment reforms in a generation to modernise Jobcentres, expand youth hubs and tackle ill-health through stronger partnerships with employers. And this week, we're going further by launching an independent investigation that will bolster our drive to ensure all young people are earning or learning.

"We're backing businesses to grow and create jobs by cutting red tape, signing trade deals and securing hundreds of billions in investment, which helped make the UK the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year."

It comes after Ms Reeves laid the groundwork for another tough fiscal package at a Downing Street event last week, which is expected to include measures that may only be partially balanced by concessions aimed at maintaining support among Labour MPs. She faces a projected £30billion shortfall in the public finances.

The chancellor has indicated a departure from Labour's manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, citing changed economic circumstances. Among the pressures she's highlighted are Brexit and the fallout from the US trade war. Despite the worrying outlook, one likely spending priority is scrapping the two-child benefit cap-a move that the Child Poverty Action Group estimates could lift 350,000 children out of poverty.