PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer said on Monday that the government is considering expanding the powers of the Competition and Markets Authority to address price gouging and profiteering in the energy market following the impact of the Middle East conflict.
"We are looking at measures to deal with profiteering ... we might look at what further teeth we can give the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) to deal with this," Starmer told a parliamentary committee.
"I want to see more action on price gouging or profiteering ... we're actively considering whether the CMA should have additional powers to deal specifically with that, but at the moment we're making sure they are focused on anti-profiteering."
Starmer also said the UK must plan for the possibility that the Iran war could continue for some time, while focusing on de-escalation.
"All of our focus and energy has to be on swift de-escalation, but we've got to plan on the basis that it could go on for some time, and that's the way in which we'll plan this afternoon," he said, referring to an emergency meeting with ministers later on Monday.
He added that while the government is preparing for possible pressure on energy security, it does not have "any meaningful concerns about energy supplies.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
