Rachel Reeves urged the US to negotiate with Iran today as she insisted ending the war is the best way of ‘minimising’ pain for Brits.
Giving evidence to MPs, the Chancellor said the UK had urged Donald Trump‘s administration to return to talks.
Ms Reeves said it was ‘too soon’ to know the impact of the Middle East crisis on the economy, saying ministers were ‘working hard’ to ‘de-escalate’ the situation.
But she suggested there could be scope for a ‘short-term’ bailout for families if the chaos causes another cost-of-living squeeze, saying the government was looking at ‘all eventualities’.
Rachel Reeves urged the US to negotiate with Iran today as she insisted ending the war is the best way of ‘minimising’ pain for Brits
The comments came amid signs oil prices are creeping up again, after markets were temporarily calmed by Mr Trump saying the military campaign against Iran was ‘almost complete’
Asked at the Treasury Select Committee whether she agreed there was no upside to the chaos, Ms Reeves replied: ‘Certainly not good for the British economy to have trade disrupted, especially when so much oil and gas comes from that part of the world.’
Pressed whether Britain had been urging the US to ‘return to the negotiating table’ with Iran in private meetings, Ms Reeves said: ‘Yes, absolutely.’
The comments came amid signs oil prices are creeping up again, after markets were temporarily calmed by Mr Trump saying the military campaign against Iran was ‘almost complete’.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil passes, remains effectively shut. There have been reports that Tehran is laying mines, although the picture is confused.
Officials from the Treasury’s OBR watchdog said yesterday that if oil and gas prices remain at current levels it could mean inflation sticking at around 3 per cent until the end of the year.
That is a percentage point higher than the body predicted at the Spring Statement just last week, and well above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target.
