When supply chains break, when energy prices rise, or when geopolitical tensions escalate, the consequences hit the UK economy very quickly. We are fragile because of how our economy has been designed over the last 40 years, and that design has left us dangerously exposed to external shocks. Energy prices rise, food prices rise, transport costs rise, and inflation appears very quickly as a consequence. So when global energy prices rise as they are at present, the UK economy absorbs the shock very quickly. The UK economy is not fragile because of fate.

Source: The Guardian March 13, 2026 09:24 UTC