Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the ongoing Middle East crisis caused the fourth supply shock this decade, with Covid being the first, the Russia-Ukraine war, and China's restrictions on rare earth export being the second and the third. Writing for The Times, the former UK PM said Britain must build up resilience as the UK has very limited strategic gas reserves which he said are barely enough for a few days of supply.
"The assumption was that Iran wouldn’t ultimately shut the Strait of Hormuz because well over three quarters of its revenue comes from products exported through its waters. But the Iranian regime is trying to close it to all but friendly traffic. They are attempting to put a dagger to the throat of the world economy, to make this conflict too costly to sustain," Sunak wrote.
