Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has accused the government of the “mother of all U-turns”.

Labour has previously allowed the US to use British bases for operations to prevent Iran firing missiles that put British interests or lives at risk.

But now ministers have expanded their use to include protecting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, while still claiming such action would amount to collective self defence and not mean Britain was dragged into a wider conflict.

In a statement No 10 said ministers had agreed bases could now be used for “US defensive operations” to target “capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz”.

Nato’s Iraq mission has safely relocated all of its ⁠personnel from the Middle East to Europe, the military alliance said ⁠on ​Friday. “I would ⁠like to thank the ⁠Republic of Iraq ​and ⁠all the Allies ‌who assisted in the safe relocation of ‌Nato personnel from ‌Iraq,” US Air Force Gen. Alexus ⁠Grynkewich, Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said in a statement. The mission advises Iraqi security forces and is not involved in combat, Nato says.

“Nato Mission Iraq will continue from Joint Force Command Naples,” the statement added.

Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

The UK has given Donald Trump the green light to use RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia to carry out raids on Iranian missile sites attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The move was announced after ministers met to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East.

No 10 said any such action would still amount to “collective self-defence” and insisted it would not mean the UK was drawn into the wider conflict.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Ministers condemned Iran’s expansion of its targets to include international shipping. They agreed that Iran’s reckless strikes… risked pushing the region further into crisis and worsening the economic impact being felt in the UK and around the world.

“They confirmed that the agreement for the US to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes US defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“They reaffirmed that the principles behind the UK’s approach to the conflict remain the same: the UK remains committed to defending our people, our interests and our allies, acting in accordance with international law and not getting drawn into the wider conflict.

“Ministers underlined the need for urgent de-escalation and a swift resolution to the war.”

The Foreign Secretary has warned Tehran against targeting UK interests as her Iranian counterpart said the UK providing its military bases to the US to use is seen as “participation in aggression”.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi delivered the message in a phone call with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who told him that UK operations in the region were in response to Iran’s own strikes on Gulf countries.

She also condemned the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key international shipping route, and warned Tehran against targeting UK bases, territory or interests.

The Bank of England said on Thursday that recent increases in wholesale energy costs would delay the return of CPI inflation to target, as it was already seeing higher fuel prices.

It is now expecting inflation to be around 3 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, up from the 2.1 per cent that had been forecast in February.

The central bankers stressed the situation is volatile and events over the next six weeks could shed light on the scale of the disruption and impact to prices.

Economists have weighed in with their own projections of where inflation could go if things persist.

Edward Allenby, senior economist for Oxford Economics, said he is now expecting CPI inflation to exceed 4 per cent during the second half of 2026.

“Under our updated assumptions, we now anticipate a much sharper rise in petrol prices, while higher wholesale gas prices cause a 19 per cent increase in the Ofgem energy price cap in July,” he said.

Pantheon Macroeconomics agreed that, if the latest spike in gas prices is sustained, then CPI could be headed to 4 per cent later this year.

Oil and gas prices retreated on Friday after Thursday’s painful cost spikes, with Brent crude dropping to 108 dollars a barrel.

The surge in prices is a direct result of Tehran’s refusal to allow the world’s oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has wreaked chaos on the global economy.

Under the plan, the US military would occupy or blockade Iran’s Kharg Island, a crucial transport hub 15 miles from the country’s mainland, which processes 90 per cent of Iran’s crude oil exports, in order to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait, Axios reported.

Oil and gas prices retreated on Friday after Thursday’s painful cost spikes, with Brent crude dropping to 108 dollars a barrel. The surge in prices is a direct result of Tehran’s refusal to allow the world’s oil tankers to pass through the Strait.

The United States is deploying thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East, three US officials told Reuters on Friday.

No decision had been made to send troops into Iran itself, two of the officials said, but they will build up the capacity for potential future operations in the region.

The deployments of the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, along with its Marine Expeditionary Unit and accompanying warships, come after Reuters reported that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was not putting troops “anywhere,” but that if he were to do so, he would not tell journalists.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss future deployments, did not say what the role of the additional troops would be.

One of the officials said the troops were departing the West Coast of the United States about three weeks ahead of schedule. The expeditionary unit has about 2,500 Marines.

The White House referred questions to the Pentagon, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters said,

The additional deployments will add to the 50,000 U.S. troops already in the Middle East and would bring two Marine Expeditionary Units to the region.

The first MEU, which was dispatched from the Indo-Pacific, is expected to arrive in the Middle East next week.

A shipping firm paid Iran $2 million to secure the safe transit of one of its ships through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report, as Tehran moves towards a “selective” blockade of the waterway.

UK inflation is expected to have been broadly steady last month but experts warn of another “twist” to the cost-of-living story in the months ahead, as war in the Middle East is set to send energy bills soaring.

The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation has been gradually easing back towards the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target level since last summer.

Some analysts are expecting CPI to have held relatively steady in February, or dipped slightly, from the 3 per cent level recorded in January.

Official figures for last month will be published on Wednesday.

Economists for Deutsche Bank and Pantheon Macroeconomics said they are anticipating CPI to hold steady at 3 per cent in February, with lower fuel and services inflation being offset by higher clothes prices and air fares.

Edward Allenby, senior economist for Oxford Economics, said he thinks CPI inflation fell to 2.8 per cent in February, largely thanks to a predicted fall in petrol prices and slower inflation in the services sector.

Analysts for Barclays said they are expecting the headline rate to dip to 2.9 per cent also partly because of lower pump prices during the month.

But Sanjay Raja, Deutsche Bank’s chief UK economist, said the inflation outlook has “rarely been more uncertain than it is now”.