“At a time when populations across the world are confronting greater levels of famine, and communities in Britain face worsening poverty, Keir Stamer should be alleviating the financial burden of this illegal war.”
Sophie Bolt, CND General Secretary
By the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
The economic crisis caused by the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran is going global. The UN’s Development Programme has already warned that the shocks to fuel and food supplies already caused by the conflict will push 32 million people in poverty.
The crisis has caused the price of oil to rise to a new normal of around $110 per barrel, tempered by an unprecedented release of 172 million barrels of oil by the US from its strategic reserves. However, the International Energy Agency warned this week that only a few weeks’ worth of commercial oil supplies was left. A return to the war would compound the economic crisis even further.
The crisis is now sending Britain into a new cost of living crunch, data from the Office for National Statistics has suggested. Job vacancies for February to April were down 28,000 to 705,000, their lowest level since the 2021 Covid-19 lockdown. Unemployment has also risen unexpectedly to 5% while wage growth also slowed.
The figures come as a warning of how businesses are reacting to the global economic shocks and rising energy costs caused by the war in Iran. The US and Israel commenced their attack on Iran at the end of February this year lasting for six weeks before a fragile ceasefire was agreed. However, the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil supply transits, remains closed to most traffic, and negotiations towards a permanent peace deal are stalled.
Yet, as this cost of living crisis unfolds, Keir Starmer is expected to announce an £18 billion increase to the military budget, to be spread out over the next 4 years. It follows weeks of pressure by figures like the former NATO Secretary General, George Robertson, for the government to cut welfare spending to fund Britain’s rearmament. This would only worsen the economic crisis – pushing millions more into further poverty.
CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:
“The British government – whilst trying to distance itself from the consequences of the illegal war on Iran – has enabled this catastrophic situation to unfold. Despite overwhelming public opposition, Keir Starmer’s decision to let Trump use British bases like Fairford and Lakenheath to bomb Iran has helped create this disaster. It is outrageous that the government is planning yet further military spending hikes. At a time when populations across the world are confronting greater levels of famine, and communities in Britain face worsening poverty, Keir Stamer should be alleviating the financial burden of this illegal war. That means reversing the cuts to overseas aid and pushing ahead with price caps on food and energy. With hundreds of billions still being poured into nuclear weapons – which now account for a quarter of the MoD’s budget – Britain must scrap this immoral and costly weapons system.”
- This article was originally published by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) on 20 May 2026.
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