UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she is “angry” that Donald Trump decided to launch military action against Iran, warning the conflict risks damaging the economy and increasing pressure on households.

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Speaking on BBC Radio 2, Reeves said the war lacked a clear exit strategy and could bring significant economic consequences.

She said the conflict was already affecting the global economy and could result in higher inflation, weaker economic growth and reduced tax revenues.

Reeves also stressed that the UK government had chosen not to enter the war.

Reeves attacks decision to go to war

The comments mark a sharper criticism of Trump than those made by Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier in the day. Starmer said he would not change his stance on the conflict despite pressure from Washington.

Relations between the UK and the US have become strained since Britain refused to allow American forces to use UK bases for the first wave of strikes on Iran.

Starmer later approved their use for defensive operations against Iranian missile attacks, but tensions between the two governments have continued.

Economic concerns and energy pressure

Reeves said the government was monitoring the economic effects of the conflict and working to stabilise energy supplies.

She said officials were trying to secure oil and gas deliveries to the UK to maintain supply and help reduce price pressures.

Rising energy costs have already intensified the cost-of-living debate in Britain.

Opposition parties have urged the government to set out stronger measures to protect households from higher bills.

The Conservatives and Reform UK have called for value-added tax to be removed from household energy bills and want a planned increase in fuel duty to be scrapped.

The Liberal Democrats have also opposed the fuel duty rise. The Green Party of England and Wales say ministers should commit billions of pounds to support energy bills when the price cap is recalculated in July.

Plaid Cymru has asked the government to clarify what assistance would be offered if bills rise further, while the Scottish National Party argues Scotland should control its own energy policy.

Fuel duty is scheduled to increase in September as a temporary 5p reduction introduced after the Russian invasion of Ukraine is phased out.

Government talks and wider geopolitical impact

Reeves and Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds also met supermarket executives to discuss ways to keep food prices stable and strengthen supply chains.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, described the meeting as constructive and said supermarkets were working to keep food affordable while maintaining supply resilience.

Earlier, Starmer said the conflict had strengthened the case for closer economic cooperation between the UK and the European Union.

He argued that global instability made stronger partnerships with European allies increasingly important.

Opposition Conservatives criticised the government’s economic strategy. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said tax increases and climate policies were pushing up costs for households.

Reform UK’s treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick accused Starmer of using the conflict to justify deeper economic integration with the EU.

Meanwhile, Heledd Fychan of Plaid Cymru welcomed the prime minister’s comments on closer European cooperation.

Diplomatic efforts are continuing to address the conflict’s wider impact. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will host an online meeting of 35 countries, including European and Gulf states, to discuss reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has effectively blocked the key shipping route, disrupting one of the world’s busiest oil channels and pushing global energy prices higher.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 2 April 2026

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Wow. Rachel from accounts isn't a one trick pony after all.

She can blame Trump as well as The Tories.

What a visionary.

1 minute ago, JonnyF said:

Rachel from accounts

Not very original.

6 minutes ago, JimCM said:

Not very original.

Accurate though. Or was it the complaints department?

Either way she lied on her cv as her ineptitude attests to.

What a fraud. A charlatan. I hope Trump goes easy or she'll probably burst into tears again.

14 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Wow. Rachel from accounts isn't a one trick pony after all.

She can blame Trump as well as The Tories.

What a visionary.

Yes, quite rightly she is blaming Trumo, along with the rest of the world.

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

Wow. Rachel from accounts isn't a one trick pony after all.

She can blame Trump as well as The Tories.

What a visionary.

But she left out the cause of all this : israel !

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

Wow. Rachel from accounts isn't a one trick pony after all.

She can blame Trump as well as The Tories.

What a visionary.

Woman expresses an opinion.

Jonny responds with his customary pre-canned derogatory remarks directed at the woman while ignoring the accuracy of her statement.

Same as it ever was.

Macron joins the fray, telling Trump less is more.

The French president accused Trump of constantly contradicting himself on the conflict.

"You have to be serious. When you want to be serious, you don't say the opposite every day of what you said the day before. And perhaps you shouldn't talk every day," Macron said.

Asked about Trump's criticism of NATO allies and threats to pull the US out of the North Atlantic alliance, Macron said the US president was undermining NATO by creating "daily doubt about his commitment" to the alliance.

"I don't want to provide a running commentary of an operation the Americans have decided on their own with Israel. They can deplore the fact they're not being helped, but that's not our operation. We want peace as soon as possible," he added.

Macron also said that Trump's comments mocking him and his wife Brigitte were "neither elegant, nor up to standard".

Macron says 'unrealistic' to open Hormuz Strait by force, urges Trump to 'be serious'

17 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Woman expresses an opinion.

Jonny responds with his customary pre-canned derogatory remarks directed at the woman while ignoring the accuracy of her statement.

Same as it ever was.

I love women. Karoline Leavitt is an outstanding example of beauty and intelligence rolled into one. Isabel Oakeshott is another i admire.

The teary eyed, incompetent, lying Rachel Reeves and her Richard III impersonation are not worthy of such praise.

I judge purely on the character Higgot, not identity - race and sex and religion, like you do.

So I suggest you try your sexist accusations elsewhere you might have more success 😃

Kemi Badenoch said it well. "People aren't complaining because she is a woman they are complaining because she is utterly incompetent. " Bravo Kemi. Bravo.

Kemi is a black woman by the way.

2 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

I love women. Karoline Leavitt is an outstanding example of beauty and intelligence rolled into one. Isabel Oakeshott is another i admire.

The teary eyed, incompetent, lying Rachel Reeves and her Richard III impersonation are not worthy of such praise.

I judge purely on the character Higgot, not identity - race and sex and religion, like you do.

So I suggest you try your sexist accusations elsewhere you might have more success 😃

Kemi Badenoch said it well. "People aren't complaining because she is a woman they are complaining because she is utterly incompetent. " Bravo Kemi. Bravo.

Kemi is a black woman by the way.

Karolime Leavitt doesn’t have an original thought in her head.

2 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

I love women. Karoline Leavitt is an outstanding example of beauty and intelligence rolled into one. Isabel Oakeshott is another i admire.

The teary eyed, incompetent, lying Rachel Reeves and her Richard III impersonation are not worthy of such praise.

I judge purely on the character Higgot, not identity - race and sex and religion, like you do.

So I suggest you try your sexist accusations elsewhere you might have more success 😃

Kemi Badenoch said it well. "People aren't complaining because she is a woman they are complaining because she is utterly incompetent. " Bravo Kemi. Bravo.

Kemi is a black woman by the way.

There’s a reason you’re getting ratioed Zon this Jonny.

We all see the pattern of your posts wrt to women who have the temerity to express ambition you don’t agree with.

It’s your MO.

Just now, Chomper Higgot said:

There’s a reason you’re getting ratioed Zon this Jonny.

We all see the pattern of your posts wrt to women who have the temerity to express ambition you don’t agree with.

It’s your MO.

I love ambitious women.

Its incompetence that annoys me. Especially when it leads to the degradation of my country.

Reeves is clueless. She is a liar. She cries in Parliament. She is pathetic. Nothing to do with her sex. Starmer is equally disgusting.

You can't defend her record so you go back to identity again. Its pathetic Higgot.

Ratioed? Are you 14 or just trying to be cool? 😃😃

5 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Karolime Leavitt doesn’t have an original thought in her head.

She's smarter and more successful than you or Higgot could ever be.

I understand the envy though.

5 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Karolime Leavitt doesn’t have an original thought in her head.

You struggle to appreciate a strong woman.

This thread contains harmful misogynistic language that needs to be addressed.

7 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

She's smarter and more successful than you or Higgot could ever be.

I understand the envy though.

Leave me out of your Levitt fantasies.

9 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

I love ambitious women.

Its incompetence that annoys me. Especially when it leads to the degradation of my country.

Reeves is clueless. She is a liar. She cries in Parliament. She is pathetic. Nothing to do with her sex. Starmer is equally disgusting.

You can't defend her record so you go back to identity again. Its pathetic Higgot.

Ratioed? Are you 14 or just trying to be cool? 😃😃

I don’t need to defend her record, the thread is discussing her criticism of Trump’s illegal war and its economic impact.

Her criticism is clearly valid and justified.

Try addressing the OP.

The Tories and Reform UK leap to try make political capital out of the economic consequences of this illegal Israeli/US war of aggression.

Perhaps they hope the electorate will ignore their earlier statements on this war and tge fact that had either Badenoch or Farage been PM they would both have taken the UK into this illegal Israeli/US war of aggression.

They both backed this war and need to be reminded of such each time they mention it.

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I don’t need to defend her record, the thread is discussing her criticism of Trump’s illegal war and its economic impact.

Her criticism is clearly valid and justified.

Try addressing the OP.

I am addressing the OP. The point is that she lacks credibility.

She is an overly emotional, proven liar. She is grossly incompetent.

Why should anyone take her opinion seriously? Or even believe that it is her opinion.

Anyway I thought Mandelson was British ambassador to the United St..... oh wait a minute...😃

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Leave me out of your Levitt fantasies.

It's Leavitt.

Show some respect to your superiors.

5 hours ago, JonnyF said:

She's smarter and more successful than you or Higgot could ever be.

I understand the envy though.

5 hours ago, nick supreme said:

You struggle to appreciate a strong woman.

Clearly, you don’t know me.

Do you even know your ass from your elbow?

1 minute ago, JBChiangRai said:

Clearly, you don’t know me.

Do you even know your ass from your elbow?

I understand that you may find a strong woman challenging.

4 minutes ago, nick supreme said:

I understand that you may find a strong woman challenging.

Pray, dear Mr Supreme, if thou wouldst but cast thine eye upon these humble lines, thou shalt perceive with what profound clarity I address thee. Verily, one cannot help but marvel at the exquisite perspicacity with which thou dost grasp the most recondite matters of intellect—such as the noble art of tying one’s own cravat without the aid of a valet, or the intricate science of determining which fork is intended for the fish course at table.

Indeed, thy comprehension of these weighty affairs doth shine forth like a beacon in the fog of ignorance that so oft envelops lesser mortals. One might almost fancy that the very stars themselves pause in their celestial dance to applaud the acuity of thy wit, which doth pierce the veil of complexity with the keenness of a butter knife applied to a particularly obdurate block of Cheshire cheese.

Shouldst thou, in thy boundless sagacity, deign to favour us with further discourse upon subjects demanding even the slightest modicum of cerebral exertion—be it the mysteries of the railway timetable or the proper method of boiling an egg without reducing it to a state of vulcanised indiarubber—we shall await thy pronouncements with bated breath and trembling anticipation, secure in the knowledge that enlightenment shall surely follow.

For who among us could presume to match the luminous intellect that thou bringest to bear upon the trifling concerns of this mortal coil? None, sir. None whatsoever.