No deal Brexit a ‘catastrophe’ for UK food industry, Gordon Brown

Former Prime Minster Gordon Brown, the GMB union, Hope Not Hate and sustain are demanding Boris Johnson “comes clean on the potentially disastrous risks a no deal Brexit will have on UK food supply”.

They have penned a letter that seeks answers to nine questions about government preparations to cope with food shortages and price rises and the subsequent effects on families, the vulnerable, public services, the voluntary sector and workers.

“Imports of almost a third of our food could be subject to disruption. Uncertainty, restricted supplies and a weakened pound could raise prices. This would be a catastrophe for the food industry but also for family budgets, hospitals and those driven to food banks due to the decimation of our social security system over the last decade,” Brown comments.

“In the north west, 83,000 three-day emergency food parcels were given to children by the Trussell Trust in 2018/19. We cannot put the future of the most vulnerable people in our country at risk as Prime Minister Johnson and his advisers stand to lose nothing. Let’s stop no deal, stand up for our future and start fixing the problems really impacting people’s lives in this country.”

Yesterday, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) hit out at Michael Gove after he claimed on The Andrew Marr Show that a No Deal Brexit wouldn't result in any food shortages. Further details here.