GB NEWS PAUSED FOR BREAKING ANNOUNCEMENT - AND IT'S BAD NEWS FOR DONALD TRUMP
GB News was interrupted for a breaking update that will not be welcomed by US President Donald Trump. Ellie Costello said: "Breaking news in the past few moments. The FTSE 100 plunged at its opening about 15 minutes ago as markets were shocked by a sudden surge in the price of oil. Eamonn Holmes added: "Stock index to the UK fell one and a half per cent after trading began in London. An emergency meeting at the G7 has been called. Options including the release of its oil reserves will be discussed."
"Iran war: Global oil crisis looming," it said on the breaking news banner. Iran's capital Tehran erupted into huge flames overnight as the US and Israel launched a fresh barrage of strikes. The ongoing attacks in the Middle East have disrupted oil supply, with benchmark prices rising above $100 and transporting oil to market becoming more difficult and expensive.
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The GB News presenters were joined by business journalist Ian King, who admitted the surge was "to be expected".
He said: "I would point out that the FTSE 100 is down by less than some of its continental European peers. That's partly because we don't have the same number of manufacturing stocks in the FTSE anymore.
"The UK is far less dependent on manufacturing than some of our continental European peers. Those are the kind of businesses that are going to be really affected if you get a long, protracted increase in oil and gas prices."
He pointed out that airline stocks are among the biggest fallers, noting that International Airline Group - the owner of British Airways and Aer Lingus - is down four per cent, while EasyJet has fallen three and a half per cent.
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Although there is a risk of a global oil crisis, Trump dismissed the spike as a "small price to pay" to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat, insisting that the rise is temporary.
"Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for USA, and World, Safety and Peace," he wrote on social media. "ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!"
Trump's remarks came after his energy chief Chris Wright argued that disruptions would be short lived.
"Worst case, that's a few weeks. That's not months," the US energy secretary told CNN.
Speaking to CBS, he added: "They shouldn't go much higher than they are here because the world is very well supplied with oil. There's no energy shortage in all of the Western hemisphere."
2026-03-09T08:49:39Z