‘A big burden for farmers’: Gulf shipping crisis threatens food price shock

The global fertiliser supply chain could face significant disruption if the effective closure by Iran of the strait of Hormuz persists, prompting concerns from analysts about crop production and food security.Passage through the waterway, located off Iran’s southern coast, has mostly stopped since the US and Israel launched their attacks at the weekend.Between a quarter and a third of the global trade in the raw materials for fertiliser passes through the strait, as well as a fifth of seaborne crude oil and gas.The de facto closure of the strait is affecting the transport of ammonia and nitrogen, which are key ingredients in many synthetic fertiliser products.Roughly half of global food production depends on synthetic nitrogen and crop yields would fall without fertiliser

Woolworths shoppers concerned new anti-theft gates may trap them and hit their children

The trial of a security gate in a Woolworths in Sydney has left customers concerned for their safety, with some saying the series of low-height bars have “hit” children in the arms, legs and face.Maria, who was shopping with her two children at Woolworths in Bass Hill in south-west Sydney on Wednesday, told Guardian Australia that she noticed the new entrance “straight away”.“The level that they’ve put it at, is the level of the kids in the pram,” said Maria, who asked that her surname not be published.“If you wanted to enter without hitting your child, you’d have to go in backwards.”Woolworths is trialling the new anti-theft entry gates in six stores, including Sydney’s Bass Hill and Camberwell in Melbourne’s east

Rachel Reeves should scrap the North Sea windfall tax now

The chancellor’s failure to reform or remove the energy profits levy (EPL) – AKA the North Sea windfall tax – in her spring forecast was a case of “political expediency and more to do with putting one byelection result before the economic needs of the country”. Who said that? Some Tory or Reform politician being opportunist as war in Iran puts the UK’s energy import dependency in the spotlight?Actually, no, it was the general secretary of the GMB union, Gary Smith, on Wednesday, demonstrating once again that views on the North Sea oil and gas do not fit neatly into a left-right divide. He has been making the principled case for an orderly transition in energy for ages, warning that decarbonising via deindustrialising costs jobs and will end up pushing voters rightwards.As it happens, one suspects Rachel Reeves’ silence on the EPL in her statement – despite heavy Westminster rumours that something was in the offing – was probably also motivated by war in Iran and spikes in the prices of oil and gas. It is harder, politically speaking, to reform a windfall tax if there is a chance that windfall conditions are returning

How will war in the Middle East affect your finances?

The war in the Middle East is thousands of miles away, but gyrations in financial markets and surging energy prices threaten a new cost of living crisis in the UK.Here is how it could affect your finances.Mortgage holders benefited from cheaper home loans in recent months after the Bank of England cut interest rates four times in 2025 to bring the base rate down to 3.75%. But that could be about to change

South West Water admits criminal offence over Devon parasite outbreak

A major utility company has admitted supplying water unfit for human consumption after a parasite outbreak in Devon made almost 150 people sick.South West Water (SWW) pleaded guilty to the criminal offence relating to the cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Brixham, Devon, which affected 2,500 homes.Almost 150 cases of illness were confirmed in spring 2024, with some people needing hospital treatment, and many residents say the impacts of the outbreak are still being felt.During an hour-long hearing at Exeter magistrates court, the company pleaded guilty to an offence under the Water Industry Act 1991. It will be sentenced in June and faces a fine of hundreds of thousands of pounds

UK motor fuel prices rise since Middle East conflict began, and energy bills could jump 10% in July – as it happened

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.The dust is settling after Rachel Reeves’s spring forecast statement yesterday, which showed that growth will be weaker than hoped this year while unemployment will be higher.While the chancellor claimed the UK could ‘beat the forecasts again’, economists are concerned that the ongoing Middle East crisis will hurt the economy, and household finances, badly.The Resolution Foundation have just released their overnight analysis of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast.The good news? The UK is set for a “decent”, one-off increase in living standards this year, and a bumper rise for lower-income families