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Chancellor of the Exchequer was delivered a huge blow this morning as BBC Breakfast halted for a breaking news announcement. Presenter Ben Boulos paused the show to let viewers know that the UK economy contracted by 0.3% in April, according to the Office for National Statistics - with the politician saying the news was "disappointing".

With a red breaking news banner appearing on screen, the BBC host explained: "The UK economy shrank by 0.3% in April, compared with the month before. When we talk about GDP, the size of the economy, it is a measure of all of the economic activity in the UK. It is the total value of what we're making, doing, buying, and selling. Economic growth, more of that, is generally seen as a positive thing."

"This figure, for April, indicates that there was a decrease in the amount of economic activity," he added. "But I should add a word of caution. This is the figure for one month alone. Experts tend to look for the trend across every three-month period, which will put the April figure in context."

But then Ben ended the report with a huge blow to the Chancellor. He said: "Shrinking by 0.3%, that follows growth of 0.2% in March, slowing down from the 0.7% growth in February. So the trend of the economy looks to be downwards."

Speaking on the same show, Ms Reeves admitted that "the numbers are disappointing". She continued: "But monthly, GDP numbers are particularly volatile and if you take the three month period then the economy grew by 0.7%.

"I think we also all know that April was a challenging month." Passing the blame to Donald Trump and his tariffs, Reeves continued: "It was the month that US tariffs came in and there was a lot of uncertainty."

Reeves went on to say that weak economic growth has been a "challenge" in the UK for over a decade. "I, as Chancellor, am determined to turn around the poor GDP and poor growth numbers and the poor living standards," she declared.

The Chancellor set out her spending review in the House of Commons on Wednesday, announcing a series of measures to boost the economy. Ms Reeves said the OBR's forecast showed people would be "£500 better off" a year under this government.

She explained: "Compared to the forecast in the final budget delivered by the party opposite, and after taking account of inflation, the OBR say today that people will be on average over £500 a year better off under this Labour Government."