Bereaved parents accuse Starmer of lacking courage over failing to ban social media for children
Rebecca Whittaker10 March 2026 17:00
Calls for direct support for customers hit by home heating oil price rise
Stormont’s Finance Minister has called for direct support from the UK Government to people in Northern Ireland struggling with the rise in the cost of home heating oil following the start of war in the Middle East.
John O’Dowd said the powersharing Executive does not have the financial “firepower” to fund any relief scheme.
The minister said he believed the cost of any such initiative could run into hundreds of millions of pounds.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already acknowledged the “unique issues” around heating oil, which is used by around two thirds of domestic properties in Northern Ireland.
Global oil prices have risen sharply in response to the crisis in the Middle East, with Iran launching strikes in response to attacks by the US and Israel.
The Consumer Council said the average price of 500 litres of home heating oil in Northern Ireland saw an 81 per cent increase in a week after the start of the conflict.
The heating oil market in Northern Ireland is unregulated, unlike gas and electricity.
Becky Whittaker10 March 2026 16:45
NHS leaders call for increased investment amid fear over ‘soaring’ energy costs
Health Editor Rebecca Thomas reports:
NHS leaders have warned soaring entry costs will hit already pressed budgets.
Rory Deighton, acute director speaking on behalf of the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, which represents NHS hospitals and primary care providers told The Independent: “Spiralling energy costs in recent years have landed NHS trusts with huge bills.
“Health leaders will be understandably worried then that hard-pressed budgets will come under further strain if fuel and energy costs start to soar because of ongoing instability in the Middle East.
“While NHS leaders will be looking at different ways to manage their energy costs in the short term, in the longer term it’s vital the health service gets more capital investment to bolster the NHS’ energy security as it moves towards net zero.”
Rebecca Whittaker10 March 2026 16:29
Strait of Hormuz: Why the blocked waterway is sparking market chaos
The US and Israel’s war with Iran has effectively halted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes along Iran’s coast, and producers have run out of storage and stopped pumping.
In the latest of near-daily reported attacks on shipping that have stopped tankers braving the strait, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported that crew aboard a bulk carrier in the Gulf had witnessed a splash and a loud bang.
After Iran chose its hardline new leader, oil prices briefly surged to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday. But by 1100 GMT on Tuesday, Brent crude had settled back down to around $92, suggesting traders now expected the disruption to end soon.
Map of the Strait of Hormuz (Getty/iStock)
Trump said on Monday that US military might was sufficient to keep oil flowing. If Iran blocks oil through the strait, “We will hit them so hard that it will not be possible for them or anybody else helping them to ever recover that section of the world,” he said.
A spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps dismissed Trump’s remarks, saying Tehran would not allow “one litre” of Middle Eastern oil to reach the US or its allies while US and Israeli attacks continue.
“We are the ones who will determine the end of the war,” the spokesperson said.
In a later Truth Social post, Trump said: “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”
Rebecca Whittaker10 March 2026 16:15
Son of British couple trapped in Tehran prison asks Trump for help after being ‘let down’ by British government
Rebecca Whittaker10 March 2026 15:45
Business and Money editor Karl Matchett reports:
Pending any late-afternoon fall-off, it has proven a strong recovery session for the FTSE 100 and Europe’s main indices.
Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC 40 and the Euro Stoxx 50 index are all up well over 2 per cent, while the FTSE 100 is up 1.77 per cent.
The reason it climbs less today is that it fell less over the past few days – that’s the defensive resilience of London’s index mix, with, for example, the energy majors rising while others were falling across last week.
In another sign of cautious optimism, US stocks have opened higher too – the S&P 500 is up 0.5 per cent and the Nasdaq up 0.75 per cent.
Of course, any soundbites from US-based politicians in the coming hours could yet affect much, especially if there’s any hint that matters in Iran will not be wrapped up as fast as the president suggested yesterday.
For now, Brent crude oil remains at around $87.50, a drop of more than 11 per cent since yesterday – yet still considerably higher than before the strikes started.
Rebecca Whittaker10 March 2026 15:28
Watch: Foreign Office no-go warning for Dubai leaves British travellers ‘stranded in paradise’Foreign Office no-go warning for Dubai leaves British travellers ‘stranded in paradise’
Rebecca Whittaker10 March 2026 15:15
Analysis: OBR admission on inflation is terrible news for Reeves
Political editor David Maddox reports:
While Professor David Miles of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was trying to play down the impact of Donald Trump’s war on Iran’s impact on the economy he could not mask the “unwelcome” news about inflation.
The fact is that he now estimates inflation will be 50 per cent higher at the end of the year than the estimate the OBR produced for last week’s Spring Statement.
So instead of ending the year at 2per cent inflation it is more likely to be 3 per cent.
This is perhaps not a surprise given that the OBR estimates were done weeks before the war and the Spring Statement itself.
The even bigger problem was that falling inflation was the only figure produced last week which justified Ms Reeves’ rather bold claims that her plan is working on the economy.
Every other indicator was bad – particularly growth estimates downgraded and unemployment expected to go up.
So with inflation now getting worse as well it makes the beleaguered chancellor’s job even harder and suggests everything is going in the wrong direction under her stewardship.
Professor David Miles of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) (Getty)
Rebecca Whittaker10 March 2026 15:08
OBR questions whether government can afford a 2022 style energy bail out
Political editor David Maddox reports:
Professor David Miles from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has questioned whether in a worst case scenario the UK could now afford an energy price bailout similar to the one Liz Truss brought in after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He told MPs: “I think the cost of the support package ban in 2022 was very substantial – something like £50bn.”
However, he suggested that there may not be the need for a similar package with the Middle East war.
“That was for a very much bigger increase [in energy prices], particularly in gas prices, than we are seeing at the moment.”
He pointed out that in 2022 gas prices were up 500 per cent whereas currently they are up 50 per cent.
But he added: “If you get a shock large enough then 50bn is a big number in the context where you have got £23bn [of headroom from the Budget] which underlines how difficult it would be to have a support package like that.”
Rebecca Whittaker10 March 2026 14:54
The UK doesn’t have only two days’ supply of gas left: Here’s why you shouldn’t panic
A government minister has criticised “dangerous scaremongering” following claims that Britain has just two days of gas stored despite threats of disruption from the US-Iran conflict.
The reports emerged after analysis of data from National Gas – which owns and operates the nation’s gas transmission system – showed that it had 6,999 gigawatt hours (GWh) of fossil gas stored on Saturday. This is down from 9,105 GWh a year earlier.
These claims are based on some small truth: if the UK were to use only gas currently in storage without replenishment, it would run out in around 3.5 days (based on average nationwide use of 2,000 GWh a day).
However, storage increased to 7,510 GWh on Tuesday, showing that the claims perhaps aren’t as concerning as they appear.
Read more here by Albert Toth:
Rebecca Whittaker10 March 2026 14:50