Iran war sparks rural UK meltdown as oil prices surge by staggering 100%

Labour MPs are demanding that the Government release a rural strategy amid mounting concerns the Iran war could disproportionately affect the countryside. The intervention comes as conflict rages across the Middle East, leading to spikes in oil prices that campaigners say are hitting the wallets of rural communities and homes that rely on external oil tanks for heating.

Some 1.5million British homes, mostly rural, are not connected to the mains gas grid and rely on oil. The Labour Rural Research Group, supported by the Countryside Alliance, is calling for the Government to urgently publish a strategy to tackle the challenges rural communities face. It warns national funding and service models are "urban-centric", effectively leaving those living in the great British countryside begging for scraps.

Jennifer Riddell-Carpenter, the Labour group's chairwoman, said that for millions in countryside and coastal communities "hardship is not the exception - it is a daily reality".

She demanded co-ordinated, cross-government reform and warned that without it, rural areas would "continue to face higher costs, fewer options and weaker service access".

The MP praised Britain's farmers and villages, who she said had "so much to give".

A rural strategy "could help to unleash the potential in rural Britain, and help to deliver real growth and opportunity for our rural heartlands", she said.

Oil prices for those living off-grid with external tanks have risen by 100% in a matter of days following the first American bombs falling on Iran, she claimed.

The war has left "thousands of UK rural households extremely vulnerable to off-grid energy price fluctuations", she added.

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Tim Bonner, boss of the Countryside Alliance, described rural poverty as a "structural failure hiding in plain sight" and said that the report had gathered "unambiguous" evidence.

It outlined 24 recommendations to address income, employment, education, health, housing, crime, connectivity and access to services challenges in the countryside.

Mr Bonner added: "The Countryside Alliance has long argued that government priorities have been shaped overwhelmingly by urban assumptions.

"This is not the result of geography - it is the result of political choices. But political choices can be changed."

The Labour Rural Research Group brings together some 40 MPs, representing more than 10% of the parliamentary party. Between them, they represent a range of rural and semi-rural seats across the UK.

The report contains wide-ranging evidence that shows the "rural penalty" people living in the countryside have to pay, such as transport, food and energy costs, as well as lacklustre digital connectivity.

The Government was approached for comment.