Labour MP Polly Billington has called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to convene a global energy summit comparable to Gordon Brown's response to the 2008 financial crisis, warning that the economic fallout from the US-Israeli war on Iran is 'as big as the financial crash'. Billington, a former adviser in Brown's government, urged the UK to adopt a 'war footing' to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and protect Britons from soaring energy costs.
Speaking to the Guardian, Billington said the impending energy crisis required a response of equal magnitude to the 2008 crash, arguing that price increases would not be temporary or regional. 'Economic pain, falling living standards and social anger create fertile ground for extremist politics,' she warned. While she welcomed the government's convening of 35 countries to discuss reopening the Strait of Hormuz, she insisted a larger global response was needed to stabilise energy markets and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.
Billington proposed measures including emergency cooperation on energy markets, protection of supply chains, coordination of strategic reserves, and a push for renewable energy. She called for a 'war footing' approach, suggesting that plug-in solar panels on balconies and in gardens should become as integral to energy security as Anderson shelters were during World War II. 'No option should be off the table, even those that might once have been dismissed as too radical,' she added.
The call comes amid private concerns among Labour MPs that the government is underreacting to the domestic impact of the war. At a press conference on Wednesday, Starmer said the Treasury was working on targeted support for energy bills if the conflict continues, but downplayed the need for families to change behaviour. However, experts warn that fossil fuel shortages in poorer countries will feed through to higher prices in the West.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have offered competing proposals. Reform UK and the Conservatives advocate more drilling for fossil fuels, the Liberal Democrats urge a 10p cut in fuel duty and reduced VAT on electric vehicle charging, and the Greens call for universal energy bill support. The Scottish National party demanded a recall of parliament, accusing the government of 'sleepwalking into a crisis'.
