Constituent Update on the situation in the Middle East
- Bristol South
- Mar 18
- 4 min read
The war which began between Iran and the US and Israel on 28 February is rightly a concern for people across Bristol South and our country. In this post, I will outline how the Government is responding.
In a press conference on Monday 16 March, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer set out his three priorities for while this conflict persists.
Firstly, he has rightly made protecting British lives in the region the focus of the Government’s actions.
As of 16 March, 92,000 British nationals in the region had returned to the UK on either commercial or UK Government charter flights. I know that there will be constituents in Bristol South who are concerned for the welfare of relatives who were in the Gulf at the outset of the conflict. I would urge anyone in that position to consult the latest advice from the Foreign Office and to register their presence so that they can receive any relevant updates.
The PM also set out how our Armed Forces are protecting British lives and interests in the region by intercepting Iranian attacks and by permitting our bases in the region to be used to conduct strikes to degrade Iran’s capacity to target British nationals and our allies with missiles.
The Government’s second priority in this war is to ensure that the UK is not drawn in. As the Prime Minister has said on several occasions, this Labour Government will only participate in military action where there is a clear legal basis and a viable, thought-through plan. To send our servicemen and women into harm’s way without these two crucial elements in place would be a dereliction of our duty to them and so the UK will not participate in this war beyond the defensive actions outlined above, no matter the pressure that may be applied.
In the days following the outbreak of the war, the Prime Minister was criticised by the Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch and by Nigel Farage for not involving the UK in US/Israeli offensive operations in Iran. Both now appear to take the opposite view. As the PM said, in situations like this, there is only one chance to make the right decision. Once UK troops have been sent to fight, there is no going back.
If Farage or Badenoch had been Prime Minister at this crucial time, they would have entangled the UK in a conflict with no clear legal basis or long-term strategy. That is an unforgivable failure of leadership that should disqualify both from ever holding high office.
The Government’s third priority is deescalation. The longer this war lasts, the greater the damage will be to the global economy and the greater the risks for stability in the region become. To that end, the Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has been in the Gulf speaking with allies, while the PM has recently met with allies such as Canadian Prime Minister Carney and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to look for constructive solutions to the broader conflict and the disruption that it is causing.
That economic disruption will be of primary concern for many people in Bristol South, especially given the recent experience of the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy prices.
While much about the current situation is uncertain, including for how long disruption in the Strait of Hormuz will persist, this Government’s first instinct will always be to protect the most vulnerable. Last Autumn’s budget took steps which will mean that the energy price cap will drop by £117 from 1 April. That change will see bills fall for households next month and capped at that level until the end of June. The Government has also made more households eligible for the £150 Warm Homes Discount which is applied to bills automatically.
The Government will also keep in place the 5p cut to fuel duty until September.
The situation in the Middle East makes clear the pressing need to get away from an energy grid that is dependent on volatile global fossil fuel markets. The Government has already helped to bring forward over £90 billion of investments in clean power this parliament, and the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has affirmed that the Government will go even “further and faster” in pursuit of our energy independence. Those steps include allowing the sale of ‘plug-in’ solar panels for the first time, allowing households to take advantage of the falling cost of solar to generate electricity at home.
The Government has also accepted the findings of the Fingleton Review into speeding up the building of nuclear power stations and will apply these lessons to the build out of renewable electricity generation as well.
All work to deescalate the situation in the Middle East will help to alleviate the impact on the cost of living, and the UK is working with our allies to help to restore freedom of navigation to the Strait of Hormuz as well as participating in the largest ever release of emergency oil reserves.
The work that this Government has done to restore stability to the public finances, including our strong fiscal rules and the fall in inflation, leaves us much better placed as a country than at the outbreak of the Ukrainian war to deal with the shocks that this conflict will bring. The Government stands ready to protect the British people from the tumult of events in the wider world and we will take the action that is necessary to protect our nationals in harm’s way in the Middle East, as well as the most vulnerable at home.
