IRAN: Israel-Lebanon Talks Next Week Will Be "Preparatory" - WSJ

SFRM6 96.3125 puts paper paid 2.25 on 2K.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is answering questions from the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee presently. Livestream here. While the ostensible focus of the session is the Spring Forecast Statement Reeves delivered last week, initial questions are (unsurprisingly) focusing on the war in the Middle East and the implications for UK gov't finances and the wider economy. The chancellor largely deflects, saying "It would be unwise to speculate on the impact of the Iran conflict on UK growth, inflation or interest rates", adding only that "The quicker we can de-escalate, the better it will be for all of those different economic variables", and it is "certainly not good for the British economy to have trade disrupted". 

• Asked whether the gov't has the requisite fiscal space to offer similar energy price support to consumers as that seen in 2022, Reeves says she "will do what [she] can" to help households and ensure national security.
• The Telegraph reported on 10 March, "On Tuesday, Darren Jones, a Cabinet minister, opened the door to postponing the 5p fuel duty rise, telling MPs that the Government had previously maintained the fuel duty freeze because of “the cost of living”. Mr Jones, formerly Rachel Reeves’s right-hand man at the Treasury, suggested extending the freeze was on the table if the war in the Middle East continued until the end of the year. [...] Asked if maintaining the fuel duty freeze could be looked at again, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister told LBC: “I mean, there’s a cost to it. “But the whole reason that our Government and previous governments have cut it down is because of the cost of living.”