…As US-Iran Peace Talks On Ceasefire Crumble
Britain’s annual inflation rate surged to 3.3 percent in March, propelled by soaring oil and gas prices caused by the ongoing Middle East tensions.
The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday reflected that the index rose from 3.0 percent in February this year
Commenting on the data, chief economist at the ONS, Grant Fitzner, said: “Inflation climbed in March, largely due to increased fuel prices, which saw their largest increase for over three years.”
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Fitzner attributed the CPI surge to the sharp rise in fuel cost, underscoring the direct link between global energy turmoil and household bills in the country.
Similarly, British Finance Minister, Rachel Reeves, in a statement reaffirmed the Labour government’s strong opposition to the raging U.S-Israeli war against Iran, noting that the conflict has driven up living costs for millions of Britons across the country.
She clarified: “This is not our war, but it is pushing up bills for families and businesses. That’s why it’s my number one priority to keep costs down.”
The minister had on Tuesday unveiled government’s plans to lift the windfall tax on low-carbon electricity generators from 45 percent to 55 percent to help ease the pressure on households and firms but rejected calls for direct cuts to consumer energy bills.
The latest UK’s CPI of 3.3 percent has now reached the United States’ headline inflation in March though the US rate accelerated far more sharply from 2.4 percent in February.
Also, the UK’s inflation also outpaced the Eurozone’s where the annual rate rose d to 2.6 percent in March from 1.9 percent the previous month.
Meanwhile, Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, tightening its grip on the strategic waterway after the U.S President, Donald Trump, called off attacks indefinitely with no sign of peace talks restarting with Tehran.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the Revolutionary Guards had seized two vessels for maritime violations and escorted them to Iranian shores, marking the first time Iran has seized ships since the beginning of the war about eight weeks ago.
Before then, a British maritime security agency reported three ships had come under fire.
On Tuesday, Trump in a social media post stated that the U.S. had agreed to a request by Pakistani mediators “to hold our Attack on the country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal … and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”
Despite what appeared to be a unilateral ceasefire extension, Trump maintained that the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iran’s trade by sea would continue. The United States had last Saturday fired on and seized an Iranian cargo vessel on and boarded a huge Iranian oil tanker on Tuesday in the Indian Ocean.
Reacting to the seizures, Tehran considers the U.S. blockade an act of war and maintained that it would not lift its closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has continued to trigger global energy prices escalation, as long as the U.S. continues its blockade of the waterways.
