British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to chair an emergency meeting on the economic fallout from the war in Iran on Monday, with finance minister Rachel Reeves and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey in attendance, the government said.
“Topics expected to be covered are the economic impact of the crisis on families and businesses, energy security and the resilience of industry and supply chains alongside the international response,” Britain’s finance ministry said ahead of Monday’s so-called “COBRA” meeting.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will attend as well as Starmer, Reeves and Bailey.
Reeves has said it is too soon to say what the impact of the war will be for Britain’s economy and has resisted calls for sweeping cost-of-living measures for households, saying instead that more targeted support is under consideration.
This comes as the energy price shock threatens to push Britain’s inflation rate back up – possibly to 5% later this year, according to some economists – and deal another setback to the slow-growth economy.
