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Rachel Reeves has stepped up her criticism of Donald Trump’s war on Iran, describing it as a “mistake” that has destabilised the global economy and damaged living standards around the world.
In a marked fraying of the transatlantic relationship, the UK chancellor said Trump breaking off from diplomatic talks with Iran and launching airstrikes had not made the world a safer place.
“I think it was a mistake to end those [talks with Iran] and to enter into conflict, because I’m not convinced that we are safer today than we were a few weeks ago,” she told an event in Washington.
The comments on the president’s home turf reinforce comments Reeves made just before flying out on Tuesday, when she expressed frustration at the “folly” of his decision to go to war without a clear exit plan.
Speaking as she prepared to meet finance ministers from around the world, Reeves said the war and particularly the halting of Gulf shipping was damaging the living standards of families and businesses in the UK and the US.
“We need to reopen that strait of Hormuz, to get down energy prices and to strengthen and stabilise,” she told the CNBC Invest in America conference in the US capital.
“We had the waterway open a few weeks ago. So now the objective is to reopen the strait of Hormuz? Well it was open at the beginning of this conflict,” Reeves added.
The chancellor said there was confusion about Trump’s aims for the conflict, which had destabilised the world economy. Entering into the war without clear goals had also laid the foundations for a more protracted conflict that risked setting back progress to end Iran’s nuclear ambitions, she added.
“They don’t have a nuclear weapon today, and what do people think is the best way to stop that happening – is it through conflict or is it through diplomacy? I believe it is through diplomacy,” she said. “There was a diplomatic channel, conversations and formal discussions were happening.”
Reeves said she had come to Washington for the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to “deliver that fair message” that the conflict in the Middle East was hitting living standards worldwide and required urgent de-escalation.
“First and foremost in my mind are families and businesses in the UK are having to deal with higher prices and higher borrowing costs today,” she said.
“We feel very strongly in our national interest that de-escalation is now the key priority … That’s what businesses and families are telling me back home and that’s the message I’m coming here to Washington to give this week.”
Despite the fraying of tensions in the historic UK-US special relationship, the chancellor said the UK remained on good terms as she prepared to hold talks with her US counterpart, Scott Bessent.
“Friends are allowed to disagree on things. That is natural, whether it is two friends that have known each other for many years, or two countries that have had a special relationship for many decades.
“When you are friends you can speak your truth and deliver that fair message,” she said.
It comes as Reeves joined 10 other finance ministers from nations including traditional US allies calling for the safe passage of energy supplies out of the Gulf, as well as highlighting the damage from the disruption driving up living costs.
In a thinly veiled criticism of Trump’s America first agenda, the statement urged countries globally to respond to the Middle East war by working together and without imposing “unnecessary trade restrictions” on other nations.
The IMF warned on Tuesday that a further escalation in the Iran war could trigger a global recession that would affect the UK more than any of the other G7 nations.
“We are a net importer of gas which does mean we are impacted by the conflict in the Middle East, which is why I do come with this message loud and clear along with 10 other countries,” Reeves said.
“Our growth would be higher and inflation lower if this conflict comes to an end and that will only happen with de-escalation.”
