British households are facing renewed pressure on living standards as fuel costs surge, the organization has warned.
The UK is facing one of the largest economic shocks of any country from the Middle East conflict, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned, saying it is “especially exposed” to surging energy prices due to its heavy reliance on gas-fired power.
Energy importers across Europe are taking the hardest hit after prices surged in the wake of US- Israeli strikes on Iran in late February and subsequent retaliatory attacks across the region. The crisis has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz – a key shipping route that carries about a fifth of global oil supply – choking off flows and driving up fuel and input costs.
In a blogpost by senior IMF officials including chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas earlier this week, the Fund said heavily indebted governments would have little room to cushion the blow, leaving households and businesses more exposed. It added the Middle East war’s impact would be “both global and highly uneven,” with some countries, including the UK, facing a renewed squeeze on living standards.
The UK and Italy are among the most exposed, with rising energy bills set to drive up living costs, the IMF said, while France and Spain are relatively shielded due to greater reliance on nuclear and renewable energy.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday urged the public to “act as normal,” insisting that fuel supplies remain secure.
Economists warn that the British economy is now in a far weaker position than four years ago, when the EU and UK began to phase out affordable Russian gas and oil over the Ukraine conflict.
Former Bank of England deputy governor Howard Davies said this week the UK could be heading towards an energy crisis comparable to the turmoil of the 1970s, when oil prices quadrupled after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war as Arab producers imposed an embargo on Western nations. He warned that Middle East supply could remain constrained, keeping prices elevated – if not as high as $150 a barrel, then well above the roughly $60 seen before the current crisis.
UK natural gas prices have more than doubled since December, while Brent crude – near $60 before the conflict – briefly topped $116 earlier this week before easing to about $100 a barrel on Wednesday.
Image credit: Marcin Nowak
History is being written while the media are asleep at the wheel. Have a think about why the UK faces such a major economic shock?
Britain has always been broke and could only survive by stealing from the rest of the world via colonisation. The Sinai peninsula was never part of Egypt until approximately a 100-odd years ago, when Britain just gave the Sinai to Egypt to bribe them for the use of the Suez Canal through which they could more efficiently extract their stolen plunder from the colonies. Today, that method of theft is over because the Houthis now exercise control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait
And the deafening silence of the mainstream media remains remarkable as history is written. Perhaps the mainstream media are hoping that their imperialist masters can break the deadlock.
Countries like New Zealand and Australia need to be a bit careful on that topic.
An “economic shock” Britain’s leaders chose to take.
The UK has voted in a horrific, undemocratic, war mongering government, not that any that have gone before have been a lot better. They have over the decades caused wars, prolonged wars, involved themselves in what most people would call terrorism and now the chickens have come home to roost. Serves you bastards right. I have absolutely ZERO sympathy for you.
Israel is a British project intended to keep control over the Suez Canal (supplemented by keeping Egypt heavily in debt) and prevent the Ottoman Empire re-emerging.
Early impression of israhell f****** America ?
https://youtu.be/4cia_v4vxfE
The short version is that Charles was a child prostitute for Lord Louis Mountbatten. At 24, Charles started to engage in services of a 10-year-old child prostitute called Starmer. Charles made Starmer a lawyer, a judge, leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. Now he’s trying to give the UK back to the EU. The EU is a front for the Catholic Church (Holy Roman Empire). So that’s the short, sharp shock of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI38clTTxlY&list=TLPQMDEwNDIwMjZnQ9zMx-t7Nw&index=4
Keep taking the pills!
The Bab al-Mandab Strait is the current theatre of operations (3Apr2026 NZ time) while deafening silence continues in the media. But AI spewed out quite a lot at the top of the screen after I just googled “Mayyun landing”……
AI Overview
As of early April 2026, Mayyun Island (also known as Perim Island), located in the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, has become a focus of intense military attention following a foiled airborne landing attempt.
Key Developments (April 2026):
Foiled Landing Operation: Yemeni government forces raised combat readiness after thwarting a “serious” and unexpected landing attempt on the island, which is in the Red Sea.
Foreign Military Involvement: Reports indicate that unidentified military aircraft, sometimes cited as American (V-22 Ospreys), attempted to land without prior notification, prompting confrontations.
Tensions over Strategy: The incident has prompted concerns about regional escalations. Government forces managed to repel the landing, prompting warnings from officials about the intent behind the operation.
Regional Impact: The incidents occur amid increased maritime security operations in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, with the UAE previously linked to the construction of a large airstrip on the island.
Strategic Background:
Mayyun Island is situated only two miles off the southwestern edge of Yemen, allowing for control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical maritime checkpoint for international energy shipments and commercial cargo.
Los Angeles Times