The price of Brent crude was back above $100 on Friday morning, and it’s already feeding through into prices at the pumps. Suddenly, at dinner tables around the UK, everyone is talking about the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes.

Surprise lack of growth in January as service sector stagnated, with falls in recruitment activity

By Andy Bruce and Suban Abdulla MANCHESTER, England, March 13 (Reuters) - Britain's economy stagnated unexpectedly in January after weak growth in the preceding months, according to official data, which showed a loss of momentum even before the war in Iran that is likely to be a further drag.

The chancellor says in her Spring Statement that unemployment will peak later this year and then fall every year of the forecast period until 2030.

Forecasters agreed the imminent outlook for the UK economy looked relatively promising - until President Trump launched strikes on Iran.

Economists don't expect any major policy announcements as the government prioritizes its "Autumn Budget" as the main fiscal event of the year.

The UK economy grew by 0.2% in the three months to January but with zero growth that month, according to official figures, as the prospects ahead are clouded by uncertainty due to the effects of the Middle East war.

Britain's economy stagnated unexpectedly in January and expanded only weakly in preceding months, underlining investor concerns about its vulnerability to the economic fallout from the war