Britons could face higher household bills for years to come – even if fragile ceasefire holds

Britons could face higher household bills in coming years even if the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East continues, a senior MP has warned.

Labor MP Graeme Downie, who sits on the energy select committee, warned that “it will still be a long time before prices return to normal” and that the full impact of the crisis on the cost of living could be felt “at least until 2027/28”.

His comments followed warnings from experts and industry figures that the two-week ceasefire, already in jeopardy as Iran threatened to cancel the deal over Israeli attacks on Lebanon, was not long enough to do any good for the UK economy.

The price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell on Wednesday as news of the ceasefire emerged, but remains significantly higher than before the conflict, and continued high oil and gas prices will lead to increased fuel, food and heating costs.

To talk IndependentMr Downie, the Labor MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, warned: “This will no longer be a short-lived problem that will go away. It will still take a long time for prices to return to normal and we need to avoid a rocket and feather situation where prices rise too quickly but fall too slowly.”

He noted that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz before the ceasefire affected fertilizer prices, meaning food costs will likely rise next year as the knock-on effects of production travel from the agricultural system to supermarkets.

“There have been delays in different products like fertilizer and you have hurt LNG. [liquid natural gas] “The factory in Qatar has stopped production and it may take years to repair,” he added.

“I think the effects of this will be felt until at least 2027/28.”

New polling by Ipsos UK finds economic anxiety over war continues to dominate public opinion; 86 per cent are concerned about the impact of conflict on fuel and energy prices, while four in five Britons (80 per cent) are concerned about fuel availability. Nearly three-fifths are concerned about the availability of wider goods such as food, toiletries and medical supplies.

Mr Downie added: “It has also been brought into focus that our own energy security is not where it needs to be. “I think this government has made a lot of the right decisions around grid upgrades, renewable energy and energy for your home.

“I think we’re doing all the right things, but we need to move faster; what we do will help us in the next crisis, not this one, because these things take time.”

Cost of living warnings have raised questions about whether the government’s strategy to cut energy and other costs can cope with the full impact of the war, with the energy cap set to expire in July and fuel duty rising by 5 per cent in September.

Tory MP Bradley Thomas, a member of the energy committee, claimed the energy price cap scheme by July was now “completely worthless”.

Cornwall Insight’s latest forecast shows the energy price cap set by regulator Ofgem will rise to £1,871 in July. This would increase average household bills by around £230, effectively negating the bill-cutting measures the chancellor introduced in last autumn’s budget.

Meanwhile, a minister insisted the government was keeping costs under control with price caps and monitoring processes, but admitted the fluidity of the situation made this “almost impossible to assess”.

they said Independent: “Things are moving really fast. We still haven’t figured out the impact of last night’s incident.” [ceasefire] decision yet [on fuel and energy prices]. “The situation is so fluid that it is difficult to predict.”

They insisted systems were in place to monitor petrol and diesel prices with an accuracy of up to 30 minutes in preliminary hearings and that the energy price cap would remain in place until July, but acknowledged concerns about supply if the strait were to close again.

Stocks of petrol and diesel at UK service stations have fallen since the start of the conflict in Iran, but the extent of the decline has varied across the country, figures show.

In the four weeks leading up to the start of the war on February 28, gasoline stock levels in garages averaged between 44 percent and 47 percent.

But levels across the UK averaged between 36 per cent and 43 per cent in the four weeks from March 1, according to data published by the Department for Energy and Net Zero on Thursday.

Separate figures published by the RAC on Thursday show average petrol and diesel prices continue to rise in the UK.

The average price of a liter of unleaded gasoline stood at 158.0 pence on Thursday, an increase of 25.2 pence, or 19 percent, since the start of the Iran conflict.

The average price of a liter of diesel is 191.1 pence, an increase of 48.7 pence, or 34 per cent, since the start of the war.