GMB halted for Rachel Reeves breaking news as Starmer ‘concerned’

Good Morning Britain was swiftly halted to deliver an urgent piece of breaking news to ITV viewers – and prime minister Keir Starmer is “concerned”. Presenter Sean Fletcher was on hand to present the latest inflation figures, which for the month of May 2025 have held at 3.4%. He said: "Breaking news, UK inflation eased slightly last month according to official figures released in the past few minutes. It went down from 3.4% in May from 3.5% in the previous month."

Figures were released by the Office of National Statistics this morning (June 18), showing that the figures remain unchanged from April. Transport costs have slowed, but there has been acceleration in the costs of food, furniture and household goods, meaning the figure has balanced itself out.

GMB correspondent Jonathan Swain explained: “I think this can be described as better news, rather than good news. Prices are still going up, but just not as fast. As you say, it was 3.5% back in April, that’s because we saw a hike in energy prices. We should, though, keep an eye on this – petrol prices, because the conflict in the Middle East is pushing up the cost of oil.

“The prime minister has told this programme that he is concerned about the impact on that conflict on prices for all of us back here at home.”

It will be somewhat of a relief for chancellor Rachel Reeves who is being scrutinised more than ever.

Viewers were less than impressed by the figures, with one tweeting in response: "Are we really getting excited over 0.1%? It’s meaningless."

Another targeted the rise in petrol prices, writing: "Since the prices were already higher than they should have been for the customer... should they go up even more?"