Reeves to outline plans to protect public from unfair price hikes

Rachel Reeves will outline plans to guard against unfair price rises amid fears among the public over surging oil and fuel prices sparked by the Iran war.

The Chancellor will make a statement to MPs after laying out her plans to the Prime Minister and colleagues in an emergency Cobra meeting on Monday afternoon.

Those will include an “anti-profiteering framework” to detect and crack down on companies exploiting the Middle East crisis and help the Competition and Markets Authority root out price gouging.

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer said he was looking at boosting the competition regulator’s powers, giving it “further teeth” to deal with profiteering.

This could involve giving regulators “time-limited, targeted powers” and the Treasury, Department for Business and Trade and regulators were said to be working “at pace” on what those powers could be.

The Chancellor is also expected to tell the Commons that Britain needs a diverse mix of energy to shield the public from volatile fossil fuel markets and stress the importance of not letting “blockers” get in the way of boosting Britain’s nuclear power supply.

Ms Reeves will announce that she is exploring government-backed indemnities for critical energy security projects so construction can continue if a project is legally challenged.

Though the US pause on strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure calmed markets and saw oil prices ease back, Sir Keir Starmer said Britain must be prepared for the Iran war to continue “for some time” on Monday.

Donald Trump had threatened to obliterate Iranian power plants if Tehran did not open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping by 11.45pm on Monday, and then said he would “postpone” the strikes after “very good and productive” talks with Tehran.

But Iranian officials have denied any such negotiations took place.

The Prime Minister insisted the UK would not become more deeply involved in the conflict as he faced questions from Parliament’s Liaison Committee on Monday.

Asked about Mr Trump’s recent public comments about him and the UK, Sir Keir said he was “unapologetic” about remaining focused on the British national interest.

“A lot of what is said or done is undoubtedly said and done to put pressure on me. I have no doubt about that. I understand exactly what is going on, but I’m not going to be wavering on this,” he said.

Elsewhere, the Prime Minister revealed a long-delayed defence investment plan was now on his desk awaiting final consideration, and suggested he favoured closer co-operation with the EU on defence in future.

Meanwhile, the British warship sent to the eastern Mediterranean to defend Cyprus, HMS Dragon, has arrived and will be ready to begin “operational integration” into the island’s defence on Monday night.