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Petrol Retailers Association snubs Reeves meeting over ‘inflammatory language’
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said it has withdrawn from a meeting with chancellor Rachel Reeves in Downing Street today over “concerns that inflammatory language by government ministers was leading to incidents of retail staff being abused by members of the public”.
It comes as Reeves asked the competition watchdog to “crack down” on “rip-off” fuel prices ahead of a meeting with energy bosses to warn against profiteering amid the Iran war.
The PRA was due to meet with Reeves today at Downing Street.
The chancellor insisted she “will not tolerate” firms exploiting uncertainty in the Middle East for excess financial gain as concerns grow over its impact on the cost of living.
The government has already promised to intervene if companies engage in “unfair” practices that would hit customers facing a rise in the price of home heating oil, which is not covered by Ofgem’s energy price cap.
Key events
The first minister of Wales has spoken to Keir Starmer about his comments on devolution contained within a leaked memo, the Press Association reports.
In the memo, which was sent in December to senior Cabinet colleagues, the prime minister tells them to resist opposition from devolved governments.
The memo had been obtained by Plaid Cymru and earlier this week its leader Rhun ap Iorwerth accused the prime minister of treating Wales with “contempt”.
Eluned Morgan told members of the Senedd’s Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister that Starmer was referring to reserved areas of UK Government policy, such as home affairs and defence, rather than devolved matters like health and education.
“I read the memo on Tuesday, and I was able to speak to the Prime Minister on Wednesday to get clarification on what he meant within that letter,” she told MSs.
“He made it clear to me that when he was talking about direct delivery in the nations, he was talking about issues reserved to the responsibilities of the UK government.
“That was something, and if you read the letter carefully, it doesn’t say in devolved areas.
“If you think about what the reserved areas are – pensions, benefits, home affairs, immigration, foreign affairs – those kind of areas.”
The absence of comments from the prime minister in files relating to Peter Mandelson becoming US ambassador does not mean “advice was not read or considered”, Downing Street has said.
The Tories have written to standards watchdog Laurie Magnus suggesting there was “missing” correspondence in the published material – accusing the government of a “cover-up”.
But the prime minister’s official spokesman reiterated that Starmer and his team respond to advice in a “range of different ways”.
He said:
The absence of comments in a particular box doesn’t mean the advice wasn’t read or considered.
There’s a range of different ways in which the prime minister and his senior team responds to advice throughout the day.
The spokesman would not be drawn on whether private emails or WhatsApp messages would be part of future releases.
RAF Typhoon jets extend operations to protect Bahrain, Starmer says
Keir Starmer said RAF Typhoon jets have extended their action to protect Bahrain, as they patrol the skies for Iranian drones.
The prime minister said people are “really worried” about the impact of the US-Israeli war on Iran and “want to see us doing all we can to de-escalate”.
It comes as Iran has stepped up retaliatory attacks on oil and transport facilities in Bahrain as well as in Oman and Iraq.
Speaking alongside taoiseach Micheál Martin during the UK-Ireland summit in Cork, Starmer said: “Last night, RAF Typhoons extended their action to Bahrain.”
He said 67,000 Britons have now returned home from the Middle East, and that some that were stranded in Bahrain, where airspace remains closed, have made the journey overland to leave the region via Saudi Arabia.
In a separate statement, Starmer’s spokesperson said RAF jets have been patrolling the skies over Bahrain for Iranian drones.
“Overnight, UK jets flew air defence sorties specifically in defence of Bahrain for the first time,” the spokesperson said.
“This saw Typhoon jets patrolling the skies for Iranian drones heading towards Bahrain.
“British Typhoon and F35 jets are now flying in defence of British people, bases and our partners, moving in Qatar, Cyprus, UAE, Jordan and Bahrain.”
Analysis: Bleak economic data shows UK plc in trouble well before Middle East crisis
Heather Stewart
Even before Donald Trump’s Operation Epic Fury on Iran unleashed higher oil prices, threatening the outlook for growth and inflation, the UK economy was flatlining.
That’s the bleak message in the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which showed zero GDP growth in January.
On the less volatile three-monthly measure, growth was 0.2% – a slight improvement on 0.1% in the three months to December.
But the data will not help Rachel Reeves’s argument that her policies have put the economy in a stronger position to withstand whatever is headed the UK’s way.
The sectoral breakdown gives little cause for optimism either. The important services sector grew by 0.2% in the three months to January, helped by strong expansion in wholesale and retail; but within that, in a sign of the rapidly weakening labour market, “employment activities”, such as recruitment consultancy were down by 5.7%.
And output from the construction sector fell by a hefty 2% in the three months to January, the ONS said. Construction is key to Labour’s promise to be “builders, not blockers”, with billions of pounds set aside for infrastructure projects and a pledge to build 1.5m homes in this parliament.
None of this is likely to inspire confidence that the economy is ready to weather the coming storm.
UK says allies should maintain pressure on Russia after US eases sanctions
Britain and its partners should maintain collective pressure on Russia through sanctions as it is the best way to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson said, after the US eased sanctions on Russian oil.
“It’s obviously a decision for the US, but our position is clear. All partners should maintain pressure on Russia and its war chest,” a spokesperson for Keir Starmer told reporters, according to the PA news agency.
“Our support for Ukraine is degrading Russia’s ability to wage war around the globe, both militarily and financially.
“The best way to continue to stop Russia supporting hostile actors is to continue our collective pressure and end the war in Ukraine.”
The prime minister is meeting the Irish premier in Cork in the Republic of Ireland for the UK-Ireland summit.
Keir Starmer was greeted by taoiseach Micheál Martin this morning ahead of a series of meetings involving ministers from both governments.
The high cost of fuel and energy is expected to dominate discussions which will focus on energy links between Britain and Ireland, the PA news agency reported.
Mark Sweney
Miliband has unveiled plans to cut regulations, costs and bureaucracy by the end of next year to speed up the development of nuclear power generation.
The UK government said the changes, to be carried out this year, would deliver a “win-win for building critical infrastructure while protecting nature and the environment”.
The energy secretary said: “As the current Middle East conflict shows, we need to go further and faster to build the clean energy we need to get off volatile fossil fuel markets and deliver energy security for our country.
“A crucial part of this is ensuring that we speed up the building of infrastructure in a way that reduces costs as well as delivering better outcomes for nature.”
However, the government was quickly accused of “irresponsible deregulation” and putting nature at risk. “No ecologists or environmental specialists were invited to shape these proposals into anything that resembles a ‘win’ for nature,” said top environmental planning lawyer Alexa Culver, of RSK Wilding.
Read the full report here:
Miliband: Government ‘really concerned’ over energy firms profiteering from Middle East crisis
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said the government is “really concerned” over energy firms profiteering from the Middle East crisis and “will not tolerate unfair practices”.
He told the BBC: “It would be completely unacceptable for anyone to use this crisis to rip people off, and we will fight people’s corner to stop that happening.
He added: “We’re really concerned about what we’re seeing in profiteering. We’re really concerned by what we’re seeing in some of these markets.
“Companies need to know we will not tolerate unfair practices, including price gouging.”
Later today, Miliband and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will meet petrol retailers and energy suppliers, ordering what they called a “crackdown” on “rip off” prices.
Miliband pushed back on calls from energy bosses and opposition politicians for the government to abandon its net zero commitments and reverse a ban on new North Sea oil and gas exploration.
He said new exploration licences in the North Sea “will not take a penny off people’s bills” and that “one clear lesson” from the Middle East crisis is that the UK needs to get off fossil fuels.
“We’ve got to have homegrown clean power that we control as a country,” he said.
Starmer risks Trump’s fury as minister says UK will not follow US in easing Russian oil sanctions
Keir Starmer has once again put himself at odds with Donald Trump after a UK government minister confirmed the prime minister will not follow the US president in temporarily waiving sanctions on Russian oil.
Energy minister Michael Shanks told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “What we absolutely can’t have is [Vladimir] Putin sitting in the Kremlin seeing this as a chance to invest in the war machine.”
It is sure to spark fresh outrage from the US president, who has repeatedly taken aim at Starmer over the UK’s refusal to get involved in strikes against Iran.
In an effort to stabilise global markets amid soaring prices, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, announced a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea, despite Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine.
It comes after the UK defence secretary, John Healey, warned Putin’s “hidden hand” lies behind Iran’s military methods, and that Iranian proxies were increasingly adopting tactics “from the Russians”.
Russia said it was “increasingly inevitable” that the US would lift sanctions. Washington is “effectively acknowledging the obvious: without Russian oil, the global energy market cannot remain stable”, Russia’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev wrote on Telegram this morning.
Tories continue to accuse government of ‘cover-up’ in Mandelson files
Also this morning, the Conservative party has continued to accuse the government of a “cover-up” over the release of files relating to Peter Mandelson becoming US ambassador.
In a letter to the standards watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus, shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart suggested there was “missing” correspondence in the published material.
Details of Mandelson’s appointment and subsequent sacking from the Washington role were disclosed in documents published on Wednesday in response to a “humble address” motion – a parliamentary manoeuvre that can be used as a way of extracting something from the government. Officially a petition to the monarch, it is used for reasons including calling for papers from departments headed by a secretary of state.
Burghart said that complying only partially with the humble address may be a contempt of parliament, as he called on Magnus to investigate a “potential cover-up”.
Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said the government had published the “wrong versions of the documents”.
He told Times Radio: “There are documents that are clearly withheld … we don’t know what the contents of those documents are.
“At some point in the future, they may well be released, but the documents that have been put in the public domain are the wrong versions of the documents.
“They are the documents that give advice from the officials, but not the decisions from ministers.”
Energy minister Michael Shanks rejected the accusations, saying the government has complied fully with the demand of MPs and would be publishing further documents in due course.
“There’s been no cover-up at all, Downing Street is releasing the documents,” he told Sky News.
“Unfortunately, there are elements of those documents that currently, because of the Metropolitan police investigation, not everything has been published, but it will be.”
Rising heating oil prices ‘a huge worry’, says energy minister
Energy minister Michael Shanks said concerns over the rising cost of heating oil are “clearly a huge worry”, as prices almost trebled since the start of the Iran war.
When asked about the impact of soaring oil prices on households, he told Sky News: “We’ve been really clear with the Competition and Markets Authority that we wouldn’t stand for any profiteering or price gouging.
“We’re really clear that the cost of living is the government’s number one priority. So we will do whatever we can to make sure prices are fair, that consumer protections are in place, and that we’re doing whatever we can to bring down the cost of living.”
He said the energy price cap will be in place until the end of June, but when asked about households that rely on heating oil – which is not covered by the cap – he responded: “It’s clearly a huge worry.
“Because it’s a just in time market, the prices are fed through really quickly into the cost of heating oil. I’ve met various industry players a number of times. I’ve spoken to the CMA about making sure we’re tracking the price.”
An estimated 1.7m households rely on heating oil across the UK, and in Northern Ireland it is the primary heating source for two-thirds of households. It is typically a form of kerosene so prices are linked to the cost of jet fuel.
UK economy unexpectedly flatlined in January, official figures show
Richard Partington
The UK economy entered the Middle East crisis after a weak start to the year, according to official figures showing flatlining January output before the US-Israel war on Iran hit global energy prices.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 0% growth in gross domestic product (GDP), down from an increase of 0.1% in December, as the economy failed to recover from uncertainty surrounding the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget.
Falling significantly short of City predictions for growth of 0.2%, the figures came as the UK and other countries faced a potentially severe economic hit as the Middle East conflict drove up oil and gas prices, hitting consumers with higher living costs.
Read the full report here:
Opening summary: Reeves to tell petrol bosses she ‘will not tolerate’ wartime profiteering
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked the competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to “crack down” on “rip off” fuel prices as she prepares to meet energy bosses amid concerns companies are profiteering off the US and Israel’s war with Iran.
The conflict in the Middle East is driving oil prices higher, fuelling concerns that households could face an even harsher cost of living crisis.
In a letter to the CMA, Reeves she “will not tolerate any company exploiting the current crisis to make excess profits at customers’ expense”. She requested the CMA to stay on “high alert” for “unjustifiable” price hikes.
The Treasury said Reeves and energy secretary Ed Miliband will also press petrol retailers and energy suppliers to ensure drivers are not left paying “over the odds” in a Downing Street meeting today, the PA news agency reported.
Oil prices have again topped $100 a barrel as widespread Iranian attacks on energy facilities in the Middle East overshadowed a vast release of government reserves.
Tomasz Wieladek, chief European macro economist at investment management firm T. Rowe Price, warned this morning that the oil price shock hitting the global economy could push the UK into recession.
“The war in the Middle East and the consequent oil price rise will raise inflation and reduce consumer spending,” he said.
In other news:
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The Conservative party continue to accuse the government of a “cover-up” after it released documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s 2024 appointment as ambassador to the US. Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said the government published the “wrong versions of the documents”, while shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart suggested there was “missing” correspondence in the published material. Downing Street has rejected the accusations.
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The UK economy entered the Middle East crisis after a weak start to the year, according to official figures showing flatlining January output before the US-Israel war on Iran hit global energy prices. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 0% growth in gross domestic product (GDP), down from an increase of 0.1% in December, as the economy failed to recover from uncertainty surrounding Reeves’s autumn budget.
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Prime minister Keir Starmer could suffer further resignations when ministerial WhatsApp messages are published in the next tranche of the Mandelson files, senior government sources have told the Guardian. Starmer apologised again yesterday over his handling of Mandelson’s appointment, saying: “It was me that made a mistake, and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of [Jeffrey] Epstein, and I do that.”
Stay with us for all the developments.
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