𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Keir Starmer will hold an emergency meeting with Government colleagues and senior officials on Monday as experts lined up to warn that the ongoing war against Iran will lead to massive price rises. The cost of food is set to soar, while Ministers were forced to urge motorists to avoid panic-buying petrol.

Conservatives demanded the Government axe “green” taxes, amid concern that the war would increase the cost of food, as well as petrol and household energy bills. Shadow Local Government Secretary James Cleverly said: “The cost of fuel, which is going up, is driven in significant part by the tax regime that the Government is putting in place. A lot of these green taxes were put in place when the world was in a very, very different state and are now inappropriate and counterproductive.”

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey will be among those attending the Government’s emergency committee, known as COBR, to consider the economic impacts of the Gulf conflict.

The National Farmers’ Union has warned that food prices in the UK are likely to rise. President Tom Bradshaw said prices of produce grown in glasshouses heated with natural gas, such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, could rise over the next six weeks.

The cost of milk could increase over the next 3 to 6 months.

Much of the world’s natural gas, crude oil and fertiliser passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is now effectively closed, and Mr Bradshaw said the impact will “span the whole food supply chain”.

The British Retail Consortium, which represents shops, said retailers “will work hard to minimise the impact on customers”.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed attempted to downplay fears that petrol will need to be rationed as he insisted there was currently no need for such drastic measures, but he said the Government was “monitoring this situation hour by hour” and added: “There are contingency plans”.

Mr Reed said: “There’s no need to ration fuel. People should go around and buy their fuel just like they always would. If the situation were to change, then the Government would look at what was required in that circumstance.”

A former senior Bank of England official said the UK should be braced for price hikes. Sir John Gieve, former Deputy Governor of the Bank, told Times Radio: “It’s very bad on every front. It’s pushing up oil prices, which pushes up inflation. It also depresses trade and investment activity. So it’s lower output, higher inflation.”

He added: “We are big importers of oil and gas. We’re going to have to pay more for it. That puts up our costs. It squeezes our consumption. Yes, it will be bad.”

The chief executive of Centrica, which owns British Gas, warned global oil supplies are down 20% because of the conflict.

Chris O’Shea told the BBC: “The world uses about 100 million barrels of oil a day. We’ve lost about 20% of that through the Strait of Hormuz.”

He said price rises are “inevitable”.

Economists have warned a surge in inflation caused by the war could lead to increased government spending by £20 billion, leaving Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a budget hole requiring more borrowing, higher taxes or spending cuts.

It includes an unexpected £2.5 million increase in welfare spending if benefits rise in line with inflation, and higher public sector pay rises. The war is also pushing up borrowing costs, which means higher payments on existing debts.

Lord Richard Walker, the cost-of-living tsar, said he has “asked the Government to consider a temporary profit cap, if required, to stop producers and retailers exploiting the crisis to make windfall profits at the expense of consumers”.