The death toll from the US‑Israeli military campaign against Iran has climbed past 2,000, according to independent monitors, as the UK Foreign Office refuses to verify the figures. The onslaught, which began with airstrikes on Tehran and Isfahan, has now expanded into a ground assault. Casualty estimates remain unconfirmed by Whitehall, but aid agencies on the ground report hospitals overwhelmed and morgues overflowing.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said only: “We are monitoring the situation with grave concern.” No official number of dead or injured has been released. For families in the North of England with loved ones in Iran, the silence is a torment. Yasmin Hussain from Bradford, whose mother lives in Tehran, told me: “I haven’t slept in three days. The embassy won’t even tell us if she’s alive.”
The economic shockwaves are already being felt at kitchen tables here. Petrol prices have surged past £1.70 a litre. Heating oil futures are up 12%. In Manchester, the cost of a weekly shop has jumped by nearly a tenner since the bombing started. The conflict risks reigniting inflation just as wages were starting to catch up.
Union leaders are calling for an emergency debate in Parliament. The TUC said: “Working people cannot afford another war. The cost of living crisis was bad enough. This will push families over the edge.”
The Government insists the UK is not a combatant, but our bases in Cyprus are being used for refuelling. The toll on ordinary Iranians – many already struggling under sanctions – is incalculable. But here in Britain, the price of bread is going up again. That is the real economy. And it is bleeding.
