The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow throat through which a fifth of the world's oil passes, is boiling over again. The United Nations has begun evacuating sailors from oil tankers as the Royal Navy prepares to deploy escorts through waters increasingly hostile. For families in Aberdeen, Grimsby, and the Mersey towns, this is not some distant geopolitical game.
This is the price at the pump and the security of their livelihoods. The trigger this time is a series of suspected mine attacks on commercial vessels, blamed by Western intelligence on Iranian Revolutionary Guard units. The UN's International Maritime Organization has declared the situation 'a direct threat to global maritime safety' and is pulling non-essential crew from the zone.
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed that HMS Duncan, a Type 45 destroyer, will lead a task force to shepherd British-flagged tankers through the strait. 'We will not allow the free flow of commerce to be held hostage by rogue actors,' he said, standing in the control room of a frigate docked in Portsmouth. But the language of gunboats and hostage-taking will not soothe the anxieties of the working men and women who rely on stable prices.
The cost of oil has already spiked 15% in a week, and hauliers, fishermen, and bus drivers are feeling the pinch. The unions, never slow to spot an injustice, have noted that while the government talks tough on the world stage, it has yet to announce a windfall tax on energy profits. 'The workers are always the ones who pay for the wars of the rich,' said Sharon Graham, Unite's general secretary, in a statement that will echo in living rooms across the North.
The shadow of 2019 hangs over this crisis, when the UK joined a US-led naval mission after the seizure of the Stena Impero. That time, the government promised to protect supply chains. This time, they must do more than promise.
They must ensure that the cost of defending global trade does not fall on the kitchen table.
