Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked the competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to “crack down” on “rip off” fuel prices as she prepares to meet energy bosses amid concerns companies are profiteering off the US and Israel’s war with Iran.

The conflict in the Middle East is driving oil prices higher, fuelling concerns that households could face an even harsher cost of living crisis.

In a letter to the CMA, Reeves she “will not tolerate any company exploiting the current crisis to make excess profits at customers’ expense”. She requested the CMA to stay on “high alert” for “unjustifiable” price hikes.

The Treasury said Reeves and energy secretary Ed Miliband will also press petrol retailers and energy suppliers to ensure drivers are not left paying “over the odds” in a Downing Street meeting today, the PA news agency reported.

Oil prices have again topped $100 a barrel as widespread Iranian attacks on energy facilities in the Middle East overshadowed a vast release of government reserves.

Tomasz Wieladek, chief European macro economist at investment management firm T. Rowe Price, warned this morning that the oil price shock hitting the global economy could push the UK into recession.

“The war in the Middle East and the consequent oil price rise will raise inflation and reduce consumer spending,” he said.

In other news:

• The Conservative party continue to accuse the government of a “cover-up” after it released documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s 2024 appointment as ambassador to the US. Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said the government published the “wrong versions of the documents”, while shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart suggested there was “missing” correspondence in the published material. Downing Street has rejected the accusations.

• The UK economy entered the Middle East crisis after a weak start to the year, according to official figures showing flatlining January output before the US-Israel war on Iran hit global energy prices. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 0% growth in gross domestic product (GDP), down from an increase of 0.1% in December, as the economy failed to recover from uncertainty surrounding Reeves’s autumn budget.

• Prime minister Keir Starmer could suffer further resignations when ministerial WhatsApp messages are published in the next tranche of the Mandelson files, senior government sources have told the Guardian. Starmer apologised again yesterday over his handling of Mandelson’s appointment, saying: “It was me that made a mistake, and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of [Jeffrey] Epstein, and I do that.”

Stay with us for all the developments.