Jaguar Land Rover hack to blame for weaker UK economy, says Reeves – latest update
Rachel Reeves has blamed a sharper than expected slowdown on a cyber attack that crippled production at Jaguar Land Rover.
UK GDP gross domestic product rose by 0.1pc in the third quarter of the year, down from the 0.3pc growth recorded in the previous three months, according to the Office for National Statistics ONS.
It was worse than the 0.2pc rise that had been expected by analysts and a marked decline from the 0.7pc jump in the first three months of the year.
The Chancellor said the third quarter figures had been hit by the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover which halted production lines for several weeks.
The ONS said the turmoil knocked 0.17 percentage points off growth in September. The economy contracted by 0.1pc during that month.
Ms Reeves told broadcasters: “The numbers for this quarter clearly reflect what happened at Jaguar Land Rover: a massive cyber attack, the biggest cyber attack that this country has ever experienced.
“As a result, car manufacturing fell almost 30pc in September. Jaguar Land Rover is now back up and running in part because of the support this Government put in, both to help with the cyber attack itself and also to support the supply chain, so that that business has now begun car production again.”
Rachel Reeves is preparing to deliver the Budget on November 26 and said she would use the fiscal event to “take fair decisions to build a strong economy”.
The figures come as Sir Keir Starmer faces accusations from Wes Streeting that Downing Street has a “toxic” and “juvenile” culture after allies of the Prime Minister said the Health Secretary was plotting a leadership bid.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Today’s ONS figures show the economy shrank in the latest month, under a Prime Minister and Chancellor who are in office but not in power.”
Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said: “The big picture is that the economy is struggling to gain decent momentum in the face of higher taxes and soft overseas activity.”
She added that tax rises in the upcoming Budget are “likely to trim GDP by around 0.2pc in 2026”.,
