Monday newspaper round-up: British households, Mike Ashley, Starlink

(Sharecast News) - British households are bracing for a new cost of living crisis, as the impact of the Middle East conflict dampens confidence in the economy and personal finances, a survey has suggested. Consumer confidence in the UK has dipped over the last three months at the fastest rate since June 2022, when inflation in the UK was soaring as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the spike in commodity prices. - Guardian

The Sports Direct founder, Mike Ashley, has admitted to arranging surveillance footage that brought down his rival Peter Cowgill, the former JD Sports chair. Cowgill was secretly filmed in 2021 in a car talking with the Footasylum boss Barry Bown. JD Sports was in the process of acquiring the trainer retailer at the time and the two companies were not allowed to share commercially sensitive information. - Guardian

The UK is poised to shed 163,000 jobs this year as the Iran war drives up energy costs and weakens the economy. Economists at the ITEM Club warn that the conflict's impact will be felt most sharply in the energy-intensive manufacturing sector, where 65,000 jobs will be lost. Another 32,500 will disappear in the construction sector. - Telegraph

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is paying millions of pounds a year to Elon Musk's Starlink as part of efforts to support Ukraine. In the last four years, defence officials have spent £16.6m with Starlink, according to newly released government figures. Some of this concerns the purchase of Starlink terminals donated to Ukraine, which are used to provide uninterrupted high-speed internet access on the front line. - Telegraph

Disruption to global oil markets from the Iran war could extend into next year unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened imminently, according to the world's largest oil company. Amin Nasser, the chief executive of Saudi Aramco, said the world had lost about one billion barrels of oil over the past two months, after the start of the Middle East war in late February. - The Times

The share of new homes sold "off plan" before they are built has fallen to a 12-year low as buy-to-let investors leave the market and higher interest rates slow sales. New figures from Hamptons, the estate agents, show that 33 per cent of new-build properties in England and Wales were sold before construction was complete in 2025, down from 49 per cent in 2016. - The Times