Rishi Sunak has said his "number one priority" is to protect jobs, as new data shows some 695,000 workers have been removed from the payrolls of British companies since March.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of unemployment increased as another 36,000 jobs fell off payrolls across the country. Meanwhile, unemployment increased by 62,000 to 1.4 million for the three months to July.

It comes amid growing calls for the Government to extend jobs support ahead of the furlough scheme winding up next month, with Thursday marking the cut-off point for larger firms to begin redundancy consultation.

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