Starmer says ministers will consider ‘every lever possible’ to tackle cost of living – UK politics live

05.40 EDT Starmer says ministers will look at 'every lever' available to help people with cost of living at Cobra meeting on Iran war Keir Starmer has said ministers will consider “every lever” available to them to help people with the cost of living when the Cobra emergency committee meets to discuss the war in Iran this afternoon. Speaking to in a pooled TV interview while on a visit this morning, he said: Cobra is the opportunity at the highest level to bring people together on matters of real, significant national importance. Obviously Cobras are usually used for military considerations, consular considerations, but I think with the Iran war, most people are very concerned now, not only what they’re seeing on their screens in relation to the conflict itself, but also that question of: ‘How is it going to affect me and my family?’ And so today we’re looking at the economic impact, and I am asking for every lever that’s available to the government to deal with the cost of living to be discussed at Cobra. Hence we’ve got the Bank of England and others there. But I want to make sure that when it comes to the cost of living, we’re doing everything we possibly can at a very difficult period like this. He also said he knew the cost of living was “the number one issue in the minds of people across the country”. He went on: It’s really important for me to emphasise that this government always has the cost of living, centre of our mind when we’re making decisions, Graeme Wearden has a good summary of this morning’s economic news on his business live blog.