‘It’s tragic’: Bank of England governor watching Middle East crisis closely

Exclusive: in an interview with the Guardian Andrew Bailey says he fears conflict will affect oil prices

The Bank of England is monitoring the Middle East crisis amid fears that a worsening conflict between Iran and Israel will make it impossible to stabilise oil prices and leave the global economy vulnerable to a 1970s-style energy shock.

Andrew Bailey, the Bank's governor, said he was watching developments extremely closely" and that there were limits to what could be done to prevent the cost of crude rising if things got really bad".