The official said the group will focus on medium-term scenario planning over the coming weeks and months, starting with efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury officials are braced for a surge in the cost of living, while experts have warned Britain could face shortages of jet fuel in future.
Downing Street has not yet set out the new committee’s membership, although further details are expected to be published later on Tuesday. Meetings of the government’s emergency COBR committee will continue in parallel.
Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are due to co-host another summit on securing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz with allies this week. One U.K. official said it is being lined up to take place on Friday, and could be held in Paris. An official-level meeting of 41 non-U.S. allies on securing the strait is also due to be held this week.
Some officials had voiced concerns to POLITICO about the extent to which Starmer’s foreign policy thinking relies on one man, National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell. He is simultaneously the PM’s foreign policy adviser and travels abroad to negotiate on Starmer’s behalf.
One Whitehall official, granted anonymity to speak frankly, said: “No one is bringing our priorities together in a distinct way or managing people going up against each other.”
Esther Webber contributed reporting.