British Prime Minister Andy Burnham called the US midterm election results a chance to lower prices

The UK Prime Minister reacted to the results of the US elections

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that the results of the US midterm elections open up an opportunity to unite international efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict and reduce pressure on the cost of living. He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, as reported by the Anadolu agency.

What Burnham and Trump said

“President Trump has accepted the results, and I believe the world now has an opportunity to unite around an issue that affects us all — the cost of living,” the BBC quoted Burnham as saying. He noted that the cost of living was the top priority of his first three months at Downing Street, but stressed: “I cannot ease the pressure on people’s spending while the conflict in the Middle East remains unresolved” — and, according to the BBC, he added the conflict in Ukraine, started by Russia, to this. The British Prime Minister also expressed hope for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and said he would “work on de-escalation.”

Republicans lost Congress

According to Anadolu, as a result of Tuesday’s elections the Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, ending the Republican majority in Congress, which had previously been minimal in both chambers. This is expected to give the Democrats more opportunities to block Trump’s legislative agenda, although, as the BBC notes, even with a Democrat-controlled Congress the president will retain significant powers in foreign policy.

Trump linked the defeat to gasoline prices

The US President himself, in a comment to Fox News, acknowledged that the rise in fuel prices caused by the war with Iran played a role in his party’s defeat: “People agree with what I am doing on Iran, but they probably were not prepared for the short-term consequences — paying more for gasoline. I understand that.” The BBC also recalls that Trump had previously warned of the possibility of intensified strikes on Iran after the elections if an agreement could not be reached, and that indirect talks between the parties had stalled several months ago.

Debate in the British Parliament

The topic of the American elections was also raised in the UK Parliament. Since Burnham was absent, Prime Minister’s Questions was led by Cabinet Minister Louise Haigh. Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats Daisy Cooper said that American voters had rejected “Trump’s militarism and the economic chaos it caused,” and called on the government, together with allies, to demand an end to strikes on Iran. Haigh replied that the United States is one of the country’s most important allies and that de-escalation is the priority, calling the war in Iran “catastrophic for the cost-of-living crisis.”