‘Immediate national priority’: Ministers accused of complacency over UK food supply

Ministers have been accused of being complacent about the risks to vital supplies of food into the UK amid concerns over fuel shortages, cyber attacks and extreme weather. The trade body for cold storage and logistics has urged the government to make potential disruption to the UK’s food system an “immediate national priority”. Phil Pluck, the chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation (CCF), which represents businesses involved in supplying and transporting temperature-sensitive food and pharmaceuticals, said: “The potential for a major food crisis is as great now as it ever was. We are at the mercy of so many different factors now, which are becoming increasingly dangerous to food supply in this country.” Britain’s food system has not been significantly tested since the second world war, a time when about half of the nation’s cold stores were in public ownership, said Tom Southall, the deputy chief executive at the CCF. “This alludes to an element of complacency about how and where we store our food in the UK.” Tailbacks of lorry freight trailers at Holyhead port in north-west Wales amid stalled Brexit talks. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Britain relies on overseas imports for more than a third of its food, most of it entering through four ports, making supplies particularly vulnerable to potential interruption. …