As the raging war in the Middle East looks likely to affect the price of goods at home, the prime minister is set to address the nation on Monday to set out his plans
The government will take legal action against companies “trying to exploit” the war in the Middle East for profit, Sir Keir Starmer will say tomorrow. The PM hit out at energy firms hiking their prices since the start of the conflict.
In a press conference to be held on Monday, Sir Keir is expected to say: “I will not tolerate companies trying to exploit this crisis to make money from working people…if the companies have broken the law, there will be legal action.”
It comes after the PM visited Northern Ireland last week, where around 60% of households use heating oil and have seen a sharp rise in prices since the start of the war.
And we previously reported how surging oil prices would ‘soon end up in the price of a pint or a meal in a pub’ amid fears the Iran war will push up beer prices.
Sir Keir is expected to tell Brits: “We will continue to work towards a swift resolution of the situation in the Middle East. Because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living.
“It’s moments like this that tell you what a government is about. My answer is clear. Whatever challenges lie ahead, this government will always support working people.
“That is my first instinct – my first priority – to help you with the cost of living through this crisis.”
The speech comes after the UK’s economy unexpectedly flatlined in January ahead of the conflict in the Middle East.
The worse-than-forecast figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) fuelled fears that soaring fuel and energy prices caused by the US-Israel war with Iran will hit the UK economy hard as it already struggles for momentum.
Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, said “the crisis raises the spectre of so-called stagflation” – a combination of rising inflation and a stagnant economic performance – “or even recession”
Meanwhile hundreds of shipping containers sit idle as the war in the region rages. Umm Qasr Port, in Basra, Iraq, is filling up as Iran causes havoc in the Strait of Hormuz with kamikaze boat attacks.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper last week accused Russia and Iran of working together to try to “hijack the global economy” by blocking off the narrow shipping canal.
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