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The Labour Government and Rachel Reeves were brutally slammed on GB News in an embarrassing takedown. On the news programme, economics expert Justin Urquhart Stewart discussed Britain's financial status, saying confidence has been sapped out of the economy. It comes after it was revealed that UK borrowing hit a five-year high for August at £18 billion, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) unveiled public sector net borrowing, which is the difference between public spending and income, and it had risen to £18 billion in August, £3.5 billion more than in the same month one year earlier. This is a huge blow for the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who is gearing up to deliver her autumn budget on November 26.

Justin Urquhart Stewart quipped on GB News: "Fingers crossed - it can't carry on like this. Why are they not creating any confidence? [...] You couldn't make this up, could you?" whilst Tom Harwood said: "Things are getting worse!"

It has also been reported that warnings that tax rises in November's Budget now look "inevitable".

Martin Beck, chief economist at research and policy firm WPI Strategy, remarked: "The £10bn buffer the Chancellor pencilled in against her key fiscal rule in March has almost certainly gone. That means tax rises in November look inevitable."

The Chancellor had promised to get a "tight grip" on spending when she delivers her autumn budget.

Nabil Taleb, an economist at PwC UK, told the BBC that Rachel Reeves now faces "tough choices, and the test will be whether she can make them palatable to voters and markets".

Elliott Jordan-Doak, a senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, agreed and said Ms Reeves's task was now far worse.

He told The Sun, "Today's figures suggest the Chancellor will need to raise taxes by more than the £20 billion we had previously estimated.

"We still expect the Chancellor to fill the fiscal hole with a smorgasbord of stealth and sin tax increases, along with some smaller spending cuts."

The news comes after the Bank of England yesterday chose to hold interest rates at 4%.