Opening summary: Reeves to tell petrol bosses she 'will not tolerate' wartime profiteering
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has requested the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to intensify efforts against "rip off" fuel prices as she prepares to meet with energy executives amid concerns that companies are profiteering from the conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran.
The ongoing conflict is driving oil prices higher, raising fears that households may face an intensified cost of living crisis.
In a letter to the CMA, Reeves stated that she
“will not tolerate any company exploiting the current crisis to make excess profits at customers’ expense”. She urged the CMA to remain on
“high alert”for any
“unjustifiable”price increases.
The Treasury announced that Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will also urge petrol retailers and energy suppliers during a Downing Street meeting today to ensure motorists are not charged
“over the odds”, according to the PA news agency.
Oil prices surged again as widespread Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East overshadowed a significant release of government reserves.
Tomasz Wieladek, chief European macro economist at investment management firm T. Rowe Price, warned that the oil price shock affecting the global economy could push the UK into recession.
“The war in the Middle East and the consequent oil price rise will raise inflation and reduce consumer spending,”he said.
The Conservative Party continues to accuse the government of a
“cover-up”following the release of documents related to Peter Mandelson’s 2024 appointment as ambassador to the US. Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly claimed the government published the
“wrong versions of the documents”, while Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart suggested there was
“missing”correspondence in the released material. Downing Street has yet to comment further.
The UK economy entered the Middle East crisis after a weak start to the year, with official figures showing stagnant January output before the US-Israel conflict with Iran affected global energy prices. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicated 0% growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for January, down from a 0.1% increase in December, as the economy struggled to recover from uncertainty surrounding Reeves’s autumn budget.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to face scrutiny when ministerial WhatsApp messages are published in the next tranche of Mandelson files, senior government sources told . Starmer reiterated his apology yesterday regarding his handling of Mandelson’s appointment, stating:
“It was me that made a mistake, and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of [Jeffrey] Epstein, and I do that.”
Stay with us for all the developments.
Starmer risks Trump's fury as minister says UK will not in easing Russian oil sanctions
Keir Starmer has once again positioned himself at odds with former US President Donald Trump after a UK government minister confirmed that the prime minister will not align with the US in easing sanctions on Russian oil.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
“What we absolutely can’t have is [Vladimir] Putin sitting in the Kremlin seeing this as a chance to invest in the war machine.”
This stance is likely to provoke further criticism from Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Starmer over the UK’s refusal to participate in strikes against Iran.
In an effort to stabilize global markets amid soaring prices, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a 30-day waiver allowing countries to purchase sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea, despite Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine.
This announcement follows warnings from UK Defence Secretary John Healey that Iranian proxies are increasingly adopting tactics
“from the Russians”.
Russia stated it is
“increasingly inevitable”that the US would lift sanctions. Washington is
“effectively acknowledging the obvious: without Russian oil, the global energy market cannot remain stable,”Russia’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev wrote on Telegram this morning.
Tories continue to accuse government of 'cover-up' in Mandelson files
This morning, the Conservative Party has persisted in accusing the government of a
“cover-up”regarding the release of files related to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.
In a letter to the standards watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus, Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart suggested that
“missing”correspondence exists in the published documents.
Details of Mandelson’s appointment and subsequent dismissal from the Washington role were disclosed in documents published on Wednesday in response to a “humble address” motion—a parliamentary procedure used to request documents from government departments.
Burghart warned that partial compliance with the humble address may constitute contempt of parliament and called on Magnus to investigate a
“potential cover-up”.
Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly stated that the government published the
“wrong versions of the documents.”
He told Times Radio:
“There are documents that are clearly withheld … we don’t know what the contents of those documents are.
At some point in the future, they may well be released, but the documents that have been put in the public domain are the wrong versions of the documents.
They are the documents that give advice from the officials, but not the decisions from ministers.”
Energy Minister Michael Shanks rejected the accusations, affirming that the government has fully complied with MPs’ demands and will publish further documents in due course.
He told :
“There’s been no cover-up at all, Downing Street is releasing the documents.
Unfortunately, there are elements of those documents that currently, because of the Metropolitan police investigation, not everything has been published, but it will be.”
Rising heating oil prices 'a huge worry', says energy minister
Energy Minister Michael Shanks acknowledged that concerns over the rising cost of heating oil are
“clearly a huge worry.”
When asked about the impact of soaring oil prices on households, he told :
“We’ve been really clear with the Competition and Markets Authority that we wouldn’t stand for any profiteering or price gouging.
We’re really clear that the cost of living is the government’s number one priority. So we will do whatever we can to make sure prices are fair, that consumer protections are in place, and that we’re doing whatever we can to bring down the cost of living.”
He noted that the energy price cap will remain until the end of June but expressed concern about heating oil prices, which are not covered by the cap.
He said:
“It’s clearly a huge worry.
Because it’s a just in time market, the prices are fed through really quickly into the cost of heating oil. I’ve met various industry players a number of times. I’ve spoken to the CMA about making sure we’re tracking the price.”
Approximately 1.7 million households across the UK rely on heating oil, with two-thirds of households in Northern Ireland using it as their primary heating source. Heating oil is typically a form of kerosene, so its prices are linked to the cost of jet fuel.
UK economy unexpectedly flatlined in January, official figures show
The UK economy entered the Middle East crisis following a weak start to the year, with official figures revealing stagnant output in January before the US-Israel conflict with Iran impacted global energy prices.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 0% growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for January, down from a 0.1% increase in December, indicating the economy failed to recover from uncertainty surrounding Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget.
The figures fell significantly short of City forecasts predicting 0.2% growth. They come as the UK and other countries face a potentially severe economic impact due to the Middle East conflict driving up oil and gas prices, resulting in higher living costs for consumers.
