LABOUR issued dire warnings of imminent food shortages in the UK yesterday, warning people that they need to ‘stock up’ if they want to avoid hunger and starvation in the months ahead.
The government also revealed that it is to launch an autumn campaign warning households that they can’t rely on food being readily available at affordable prices any more.
Households should stock up on food, Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle urged yesterday.
Backing her up, the National Audit Office (NAO) claimed that Britain’s food supply chain is at risk of coming under ‘cyber-attack’ and accused the government of being too reliant on the private sector to deal with food supply disruption.
Eagle reported that the government is to unveil a strategy for dealing with national emergencies later this year.
She claimed: ‘We’re about to experience probably the largest El Niño that has ever been seen, and that will lead to drier summers, wetter winters, with more extreme storms in this country.’
She urged: ‘If you’ve got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you’re going to be a lot better off than if you haven’t.’
The NAO claimed that Britain’s food supply chain is vulnerable to cyber-attacks and extreme weather, citing climate change as a long-term chronic risk.
‘The disruptions could push up prices and leave vulnerable people struggling to buy food,’ the NAO warned.
It said the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) is too reliant on private companies to handle disruptions to food supply, adding that it has not done enough to improve supply chain resilience.
UK households are less prepared for emergencies than those in several other countries such as Finland, Sweden and European Union nations, the NAO claimed.
Defra said the report shows food supply risks are becoming more complex.
In July, the government announced that in the autumn it intends to set out ‘small but important steps’ households can take to prepare for food and water shortages in the event of extreme weather or cyber-attacks.
It said: ‘These will form a strategy to be unveiled by the end of 2026 aimed at bringing the UK closer into line with European countries in terms of emergency preparedness.’
Phil Pluck, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, the body which represents firms transporting temperature-controlled foods, backed Eagle, claiming Britain is ‘pretty close to crisis’.
Asked whether people should be stocking up in case of disruptions, Pluck replied: ‘Yes, we should. There should be some sensible stocking in each household. And the government in the autumn will be telling all of us to do that.’
• see editorial