SDP CALLS FOR NATIONAL EMERGENCY OVER IRANIAN ENERGY CRISIS

London (6 March 2026) - The Social Democratic Party (SDP), the party of the patriotic state, calls for a state of national emergency to mitigate the effects of a global energy crisis. The attack on Iran by the United States and Israel has caused a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the sea channel that accounts for up to 25% of the world’s crude oil flows. If the blockade persists, analysts and energy leaders anticipate an unprecedented spike in world energy prices.

Given the gross negligence of successive governments in allowing Britain to become a net energy importer – with imports responsible for 45% of our energy – this supply shock will cause a dramatic increase in British energy costs, a wave of ruinous inflation, and a collapse in economic output as countless strained industries are forced to close.

To mitigate the damage of this supply shock, the SDP calls for a state of national emergency to be declared. We call on the government to:

Institute temporary export controls on oil and gas products to maximise the nation’s energy reserves
Temporarily suspend most safety, environment, and planning barriers to onshore gas production, and provide emergency subsidies to rapidly bring this industry online
Temporarily suspend most licensing restrictions and punitive taxes that limit offshore oil and gas production, and provide capital and expertise to establish and expand projects at the greatest possible speed

These emergency measures could only hope to marginally mitigate the energy supply crisis, however. In the meantime, we call on the government to apply every tool it has at its disposal to influence an end to hostilities in the Gulf and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

SDP Leader William Clouston said:

“Recent wars of choice by Western powers have been disastrous. We must realize that American interests don’t always coincide with British interests. US and Israeli action against Iran will hit Britain very hard economically. Years of complacency by our ruling elites on energy security are being laid bare before our eyes. However, the impact is not just economic. The present action could also prompt further mass flows of culturally dissimilar and fiscally negative refugees into our country - causing further long-term harm to our society. As the SDP has long argued - the period of indifference must end. The present energy shock is another wake up call. National capacity in the economic and military domains is now the over-riding priority in British governance.”

Ends

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