North Devon MP says 'North Devon will suffer Trumpflation'

This past month has shown just how exposed rural communities like ours are to global conflicts unfolding thousands of miles away, and how a regional war can drive up global prices.

Strikes on major gas infrastructure linked to Iran’s South Pars field, responsible for the vast majority of the country’s gas production, were followed by retaliatory attacks affecting Qatar’s Ras Laffan, the single largest hub for liquefied natural gas exports in the world.

Since then, Iranian missiles have reportedly been fired at Diego Garcia and Trump’s rhetoric has also intensified dramatically, which has only heightened concerns about how far this conflict could escalate.

Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz has remained effectively blocked and under the control of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - a group we Liberal Democrats have continuously called on the government to proscribe - and, because of that, we
have seen oil and gas prices jumping sharply, with household bills set to rise even further this year.

Those who rely on heating oil in North Devon were already feeling the pressure.

In a meeting with MPs representing some of the UK’s most rural areas, the Energy Minister said that the government wanted evidence from consumers to support action by the Competition and Markets Authority against price gouging and anti-competitive practices.

In response, I launched a local survey into heating oil, LPG and red diesel users to collect evidence to send on to the Minister to highlight the scale of the issue in North Devon and push for urgent action.

The results showed that many people were being quoted prices 100-150 per cent higher than usual, some even reporting increases of over 200 per cent, and many unable to successfully place a new order.

The Government’s response so far has felt slow to say the least. There was a £53 support package for heating oil, which is welcome, as any recognition that off-grid households need support is long overdue.

But it doesn’t match the scale of what may be coming down the track.

Although prices are still a long way off the peaks seen in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a roughly 25 per cent spike in gas prices in a single morning is a warning siren. Without action, these increases will begin feeding through to the price cap by the summer, as Ofgem calculates it based on average wholesale prices over the three-month observation window.

That is why we Liberal Democrats have been calling for an emergency COBRA meeting to urgently set out a plan to protect households from what could become a £500 hit.

I am glad that the Prime Minister has now agreed to convene COBRA to assess the impact of the conflict, but this must be the starting point for decisive action and a stand against Trump and his war of choice.

Because, as this all goes on, I am hearing directly from people in North Devon who are making difficult choices about which rooms they can’t afford to heat, limiting hot water, and taking on debt to get through the month.

This is not sustainable, and it is not acceptable.

Rural homes are often harder and more expensive to heat as it is, and too many have been left behind when it comes to insulation and energy efficiency.

This conflict has made it all the more clear that we need a serious long-term plan, one that includes a renewed commitment to building zero-carbon homes that are cheaper to run from the outset and rebuilding ties with Europe. Without that, we will remain exposed not just to this crisis, but the next one as well.