Keir Starmer warns UK ‘don’t panic’ as he ‘levels with the public’ over price rises

The Prime Minister is chairing a meeting of the ministerial Iran crisis committee today as he warns of economic impact on daily life

Sir Keir Starmer has urged Britons not to panic over the economic repercussions of the Iran war, but acknowledged that people might need to alter their shopping habits and holiday plans.

The Prime Minister, who is set to chair a meeting of the ministerial Iran crisis committee on Tuesday, stated that “at the moment” the Government was confident about supply chains.

He emphasised that the UK was doing “everything we can” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial oil and gas shipping route which has been effectively shut down by Iran since the US-Israeli bombing campaign commenced.

Sir Keir revealed that the French and the British would spearhead a “military mission” to provide reassurance to ships traversing the strait, although the initiative led by the Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron is not anticipated to start until hostilities cease.

Speaking on the Cathy Newman Show on Sky News, Sir Keir said: “There is going to be an impact on the UK. There already is. And I think it’s really important that I level with the public that we are doing everything we can to get the Strait of Hormuz open, because obviously that is vital in terms of minimising the impact.

“But I don’t want anybody to think that, once the Strait is open, that that’s the end of the damage. It will go on longer than that.”

He noted there were “almost daily meetings” of ministers and officials examining how to manage the fallout from the crisis. At the moment, we’re confident about supply. We have reopened a CO2 plant in the North East.

“Airlines are telling us that they’ve got enough jet fuel at the moment.”

But he added “we’ll see how long the conflict goes on”. He said: “I can see that, if there’s more impact, people might change their habits… where they go on holiday this year, what they’re buying in the supermarket, that sort of thing.”

Asked for his message to the public, Sir Keir said: “Don’t panic. But, we chose not to get involved in this war. That was the right thing to do but we must protect the British people from the impact of it.”

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