The official said the group will focus on medium-term scenario planning over the coming weeks and months, starting with efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury officials are braced for a surge in the cost of living, while experts have warned Britain could face shortages of jet fuel in future.
Downing Street has not yet set out the new committee’s membership, although further details are expected to be published later on Tuesday. Meetings of the government’s emergency COBR committee will continue in parallel.
Some officials had voiced concerns to POLITICO about the extent to which Starmer’s foreign policy thinking relies on one man, National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell. He is simultaneously the PM’s foreign policy adviser and travels abroad to negotiate on Starmer’s behalf.
One Whitehall official, granted anonymity to speak frankly, said: “No one is bringing our priorities together in a distinct way or managing people going up against each other.”
Esther Webber contributed reporting.