Starmer says ‘every lever’ will be explored to ease rising costs of living from Iran conflict

Keir Starmer has promised to look at using “every lever that’s available to the government” to help with the cost of living impacts of the US-Israel war against Iran, ahead of an emergency meeting with senior ministers.The prime minister is to chair a meeting of the Cobra committee on Monday afternoon, joining Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, as well as Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, among others, to discuss possible contingency measures.Speaking to reporters during a visit to a school in London, Starmer said he wanted to reassure Britons that everything was being done to mitigate the economic effects of the conflict, which has resulted in energy prices soaring and the cost of government borrowing also rising.“Cobra is the opportunity at the highest level to bring people together on matters of real, significant national importance,” Starmer said.“Obviously, Cobras are usually used for military considerations, consular considerations, but I think with the Iran war, most people are very concerned now, not only what they’re seeing on their screens in relation to the conflict itself, but also that question of ‘How is it going to affect me and my family?’“And so today we’re looking at the economic impact, and I am asking for every lever that’s available to the government to deal with the cost of living to be discussed at Cobra. Hence we’ve got the Bank of England and others there.“But I want to make sure that when it comes to the cost of living, we’re doing everything we possibly can at a very difficult period like this.”Economists and energy experts have warned that the effect of the conflict, begun by the US and Israel launching air and missile strikes on Iran, could be similar or greater to the 1970s oil price shocks and the effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.In response to the attacks, Iran has aimed missiles and drones at military and infrastructure targets in the Middle East and beyond, and effectively blocked the strait of Hormuz, a key route for oil and gas heading to Europe, for most shipping.There is concern that the conflict could escalate further, with Donald Trump threatening to “obliterate” Iran’s energy infrastructure if the strait of Hormuz is not unblocked. Iran has said that if this happens it will target energy and water plants across the region, and lay mines to block the entire Persian Gulf.Starmer spoke to the US president on Sunday night in a 20-minute call which Downing Street described as constructive, while giving few details.“What we need here is de-escalation and that’s why we had a statement from a number of countries last week about what we need to do about the strait of Hormuz, which obviously needs careful co-ordination and a viable plan, but it’s very important, we defend our interests, we defend British lives, but without getting dragged into the war,” Starmer said on Monday morning.Starmer has distanced the UK from a conflict which, polling shows, is generally very unpopular with the domestic public. He refused the US permission to use UK air bases for the initial attack, and has since only allowed this for strikes on Iranian missile bases, not other targets.This has annoyed Trump, who has repeatedly criticised Trump and mocked him as lacking decisiveness. Before the pair spoke, Trump posted a video on his Truth Social site of a sketch from the new UK version of Saturday Night Live, which showed Starmer as scared of talking to the president.