BBC Breakfast's Ben Thompson halts show for major update
BBC Breakfast host Ben Thompson abruptly interrupted the show as delivered a major update and said: “in the last few minutes.”
During Wednesday's episode of the BBC hit show, the presenter took on hosting duties alongside co-star Sally Nugent as they shared the week's trending stories with viewers.
Weather woman Carol Kirkwood was in the studio as she presented her usual segment but as she finished speaking Ben jumped in and said: “Now 12 minutes past seven and in the last few minutes there has been an official update on the UK’s finances.”
He continued: “They tell us how much debt the country is in as a total.” Sally continued: “Yes the figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate how much wiggle room the new chancellor Rachel Reeves will have when she sets out spending plans in the Autumn.”
The pair were then joined by finance correspondent Ben Boulos, who gave more details on the news.
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Ben explained: “Now this is a bit like the monthly statement you get from the bank and what it tells us is that in July the government spent 3.1 billion pounds more than it has coming in - in taxes and it has added to the total debt that accumulated over the years.”
He revealed: “It is the biggest it has been since the 1960s and it’s worth almost the same as the total value of all the goods and services that are made and sold in the economy.
“The chancellor Rachel Reeves will be setting out her first budget and spending plans and we know that some services will be protected like health and education but today’s figures show that there is going to be a bit of a squeeze on how much is available to spend on other things.”
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The finance guru added: “It’s not unusual for the government to spend more than it has coming in but self imposed tax rules means that the government has to show that over the next five years it’s got a plan to rain that in.
"This looks like the government is going to have to make some tough decisions on cutting spending on some departments and we will get the details on that in the budget in the Autumn.”
