Your supermarket shop and holiday plans could be hit by Iran war, PM warns in Sky News interview | Politics News

The Iran war could hit what British people buy in supermarkets and where they go on holiday, Sir Keir Starmer has told The Cathy Newman Show.

Asked if summer holidays were in jeopardy, the prime minister told the show, launching on Sky News tonight: “We’ll see how long the conflict goes on.

“I can see that, if there’s more impact, people might change their habits… where they go on holiday this year, what they’re buying in the supermarket, that sort of thing.”

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Asked if that meant there may be shortages of food and fuel, Sir Keir said his message to the public was still that they should not panic.

He added: “We chose not to get involved in this war. That was the right thing to do. But we must protect the British people from the impact of it.

“That’s why we have these meetings. I’m chairing the one tomorrow. I do that regularly and that’s looking across the piece. What more can we do? How do we manage the risks as we see them?

“It is important to say that because we got the economy into a better place, we are better placed to deal with this than we otherwise would have been.”

The interview also saw Sir Keir signal that he will order his MPs to vote against a motion calling for an inquiry into whether he has misled parliament.

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The meeting the PM is chairing tomorrow will see the Middle East Response Committee (MERC) discuss how to deal with the fallout from the conflict.

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It will include representatives from the Bank of England and will consider the war’s economic impact in the shadow of rising oil prices, which hit a near three-week high on Monday.

It comes as hopes of progress on peace talks between the US and Iran were once again dashed, after President Donald Trump cancelled a visit of his envoys to Pakistan for negotiations.

Trump last week indefinitely extended the ceasefire between the US and Iran, which was agreed on 7 April and which has largely halted the fighting that began with joint US and Israeli strikes on 28 February.

But a permanent resolution has yet to be agreed and the crucial Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil supplies are carried, remains effectively blocked.