Politics Home Article | PM Warns Iran War “Could Go On For Some Time”

(Alamy)

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The Prime Minister also stressed that he was “acutely aware” of how much the previous Conservative government spent on protecting households from soaring energy bills after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, indicating that he prefers a targeted intervention to universal support in response to the current energy crisis.

Speaking to the House of Commons Liaison Committee on Monday afternoon, Starmer said: “Since the conflict started, I’ve been really clear with the team that we mustn’t fall into the sort of false comfort of thinking that there will necessarily be a quick and early end to this.”

He added: “We have to plan on the basis that there may not be.”

The PM will chair a Cobra meeting later on Monday to discuss the economic fallout of the ongoing conflict in Iran, where the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, will be an attendee.

While the Labour government has already announced support for households reliant on heating oil, Starmer confirmed that he is looking at further steps to protect people from a spike in energy bills caused by the war in Iran.

The conflict between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other has led to severe disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran threatening to attack ships trying to pass through what is one of the world’s most important trade routes.

This, in turn, has resulted in soaring gas and oil prices, triggering warnings of an economic shock affecting countries across the world.

There are warnings that household energy bills in the UK will rise significantly when the current cap set by regulator Ofgem expires in July.

Starmer indicated today that he would prefer a targeted intervention to protect households that need it most, referring to how expensive it was when the Liz Truss Conservative government funded universal support. Leading economist Paul Johnson recently described that intervention as “staggeringly expensive”.

“I’m acutely aware of how much it cost last time round,” Starmer said, referring to the package of support announced in 2022.

“I’m acutely aware of the state of the public finances,” Starmer continued, adding, “but we will look this afternoon at what the appropriate approach is.” 

“There are difficulties in that we don’t yet know the extent of the challenge we’re facing because we don’t know when this conflict is going to come to an end. But we’re actively looking at what measures we can put in place.”

On Monday, US President Donald Trump delayed his planned strikes on Iran’s power plants, after what he called “very good and productive conversations” with Tehran. 

The US threat and Iran’s subsequent threat to retaliate by targeting key energy sites in the Gulf had prompted concern that the war was heading for a major escalation.

Starmer told MPs that the UK was “aware that that was happening” and “the immediate priority has to be a swift resolution of the conflict and delivering a negotiated agreement which puts tough conditions on Iran, particularly in relation to nuclear weapons”.

But he reiterated that the Iran conflict is “not our war and we are not getting dragged into this war”.

Iran has since denied Trump’s claims of an agreement having taken place.