Starmer says he’s ‘fed up’ with actions of Trump, Putin hitting UK energy bills

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is “fed up” with how the U.S.-Israeli military operation in Iran has impacted energy prices in the United Kingdom, drawing a parallel between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy, because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world,” he said in an interview with ITV News’s Robert Peston released Thursday. 

His reference to the Russian leader appeared to nod to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which sent energy prices up globally. 

Since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran at the end of February, the Strait of Hormuz, a main thoroughfare for oil transport, has been closed, reopened, restricted and closed again. The instability and uncertainty of its opening has impacted gas and oil prices across the world.  

Trump agreed to stop attacks on Iran on Tuesday in a ceasefire deal set to last two weeks, an effort to temporarily relieve markets and potentially incentivize Iran to fully open the strait. The day after the deal was reached, Iran closed the strait in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon. 

On Thursday, Trump indicated that the country had not opened the passage to his liking and accused Iran of breaking the ceasefire deal.  

“Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz,” he wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday. “That is not the agreement we have!”  

Starmer has advocated for the strait’s reopening, speaking with Trump on Thursday about a “practical plan” to allow for oil passage. 

“Our position is ‘open means open’ for safe navigation,” Starmer said in the interview with ITV. “That means toll-free navigation and vessels can get through.”

Tension between the U.S. and the U.K. has mounted since the start of the war. Trump has repeatedly criticized the U.K.’s approach to the conflict after Starmer denied his request to use U.K. bases for preemptive attacks in February. Starmer later reversed course, offering up two aircraft carriers to send to the Middle East, which Trump refused.  

Starmer’s comments mark his latest slam against Trump after he told reporters last week that the U.K. would form a “closer partnership” with Europe as its relationship with the U.S. has become increasingly strained. He also spoke in defense of NATO after Trump said the U.S. would reconsider its membership with the international alliance after the war in Iran concludes. 

“Whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I’m going to act in the British national interest in all the decisions that I make,” Starmer said in a press conference on April 1 in his comments about NATO. “That’s why I’ve been absolutely clear that this is not our war and we’re not going to get dragged into it.” 

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