The government has warned local emergency planning groups across England there could a drop in the food available to Brits if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal, HuffPost UK has learned.
Michael Gove’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Local Government Ministry are understood to have sent the country’s 38 Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) a joint letter assuring them that even in the worst-case no-deal Brexit scenario, there would not be widespread food shortages.
But there may be “reduced availability” of food and a fall in the choice of products, the contingency planning groups – made up of emergency services, NHS local councils and other first responders – were told.
With 42 days until Britain is set to officially leave the European Union, LRFs have now been asked to identify the areas most likely to be affected if Theresa May fails to secure a Brexit deal by March 29.
Labour MP Ian Murray – a supporter of the pro-EU group Best For Britain – said the letter was further proof that Brexit would put Britain’s food security at risk.
“Nobody voted for that,” he said. “It’s an outrage that this government has refused to take no-deal off the table, given it clearly knows a no-deal Brexit would reduce availability and leave people with fewer, probably more expensive, food options.
“The problem is that those who have the least will suffer the most. That’s something that Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage will never understand.”
A spokesperson for the government told HuffPost UK the country has a “highly resilient food supply chain”, adding that the food industry is “well-versed at dealing with issues that can affect food supply”.
“While we have well established ways of working with the food industry to prevent disruption, a responsible government must plan for every eventuality, including a no deal scenario,” they added.
“That’s why we’re also working very closely with Local Resilience Forums to support our no deal contingency planning.”
The warning comes amid a series of revelations about what a no-deal Brexit could mean for the UK. Last month, health secretary Matt Hancock revealed that the government would prioritise medicines over food if the UK crashed out of the EU.
But parliament moved one step closer to no-deal last night when MPs dealt May yet another cutting blow over Brexit.
Parliamentarians had been asked to re-endorse plans they had been backed two weeks earlier for May to return to Brussels to renegotiate her Brexit deal, replacing the controversial Irish backstop with “alternative arrangements”.
It was a bid by government to show EU27 leaders that the prime minister had “stable” support in the UK for the renegotiations, which the European Union oppose.
However, hardline Brexiteers accused May of using the motion to effectively take no-deal off-the-table.
As a result, the motion was defeated 303 votes to 258, with 67 Tory MPs abstaining from the ballot. A further five actively voted against the government.