Sir Keir Starmer is reported to have been forced to puthousehold energy supporton the table as the Iran conflict drives oil prices toward $109 a barrel and shows no sign of ending, warning that the cost of living pressures bearing down on British families are "always top of my mind."

"No matter the headwinds, supporting working people and their families with thecost of livingis always top of my mind," he told reporters ahead of a Monday visit to acommunity centre in London.

The pressure on Starmer to act is intensifying. The Express understands trade unions and a growing number of Labour MPs are pushing for a formal support package to be readied before the conflict takes a deeper economic toll. Brent crude has rocketed by as much as 10% in a matter of days, with weekend production cuts by the UAE and Kuwait threatening to extend the market turmoil into a second week. Before the first bomb fell on February 28, oil was changing hands at $72 a barrel.

The Resolution Foundation has put a number on what the energy shock means for ordinary households — a £500 hit for a typical family, dwarfing the £150 saving Reeves announced in November's budget. Economists have been blunt that a blanket household bail-out is beyond the country's means.

Bloomberg reported Starmer as saying, the public was "rightly worrying what this means for life at home – their bills, their jobs, their communities. I want to address those concerns head on. I will always be guided by what is best for the British public."

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The Express reported how Sunday brought the first direct conversation between Starmer and Trump since the US president's public attacks on the Prime Minister for dragging his feet over RAF base access.

The call covered military cooperation and Starmer conveyed his condolences over the six American service members killed in the conflict.

It did little to fully defrost relations. Trump had said on Saturday that Britain's offer of an aircraft carrier was surplus to requirements:

Source: Daily Express :: World Feed