{"id":478549,"date":"2026-03-16T12:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T12:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/478549\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T12:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T12:08:10","slug":"uk-wont-be-drawn-into-wider-war-and-will-work-with-allies-on-strait-of-hormuz-plan-starmer-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/478549\/","title":{"rendered":"UK won&#8217;t be drawn into &#8216;wider war\u2019 and will work with allies on Strait of Hormuz plan, Starmer says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/core\/website\/assets\/static\/news\/incident-types\/light-mode\/analysis.77b314ef10.svg\" alt=\"Analysis\" height=\"2.5rem\" width=\"9.8125rem\" draggable=\"false\" class=\"ssrcss-h608ny-ContributorImageComponent e2hr5uu0\"\/>The domestic and international considerations Starmer is makingpublished at 12:06 GMT<\/p>\n<p>12:06 GMT<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-3u1n9h-Contributor etflsgg2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/b9eb2a7b-b156-46ad-b4fa-fb47dc1b0972.jpg.webp.webp\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/>Chris Mason<br \/>Political editor<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Keir Starmer\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/43411d64-67fa-4b7c-8e8d-19ef8ad39361.jpg.webp.webp\"  width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/>Image source, Reuters<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">There were two key strands from the prime minister\u2019s news conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Firstly, domestic \u2014 helping what the government describes as &#8220;vulnerable&#8221; households with the cost of heating oil, which has spiked in price in the last few weeks. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Around \u00a350m has been set aside for it. People in England can apply for help via their local authority. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the devolved governments will be involved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Then there is the international picture and in particular the Strait of Hormuz, that pinch point for the delivery of energy supplies in the Middle East. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The prime minister said both that the UK would not be drawn into the wider conflict but it did recognise the importance of keeping the Strait open and was working with allies to work out what to do. So what might that amount to? <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">We don\u2019t know yet. We know Donald Trump wants significant support, including military support. But the logic of the PM&#8217;s position suggests this is unlikely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But, as the PM told me, the domestic and international elements of all this are connected. What happens if the Straits remain blocked? What help might the government feel able to offer if the impacts of the war persist for months and months?<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In recent years we have seen colossal government interventions following the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">They had colossal impacts on the public finances. What might be affordable this time?<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Starmer acknowledged a central truth in all this \u2014 he doesn\u2019t know, we don\u2019t know, how long this is going to go on, and with what consequence. They are responding day to day and week to week, just like the rest of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The domestic and international considerations Starmer is makingpublished at 12:06 GMT 12:06 GMT Chris MasonPolitical editor Image source,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-478549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}