Government No Deal Brexit Documents Confirm That Low Income Groups Will Suffer Most

Operation Yellowhammer, the no-deal Brexit planning put together by Boris Johnson’s government, shows that food supply problems will hit low income groups most, with a reduction in choice, limited availability of certain foods, and rising food prices.

The documents state that:

• “Certain types of fresh food supply will decrease.”
• “Critical dependencies for the food supply chain (such as key input ingredients, chemicals, and packaging) may be in short supply.
• Though there apparently will not be “an overall shortage of food,” these conditions “will reduce availability and choice of products and will increase price, which could impact vulnerable groups.”
• “Government will not be able to fully anticipate all possible impacts to the agri-food supply chain.”

Later in the documents, a short clause admits: “Low income groups will be disproportionately affected by any price rises in food and fuel.”

These impacts are a laundry list of Brexit food supply concerns raised by U.K. restaurants, U.K. food and drink bodies, and U.K. academics in the years following the referendum, all of which up to now have been hedged or straightforwardly denied by the government. London restaurateurs Jeremy King, of Corbin and King, and Monika Linton, of Spanish specialist Brindisa, warned of such circumstances on an Eater London panel last year.

Then, and still now. these warnings have been categorised by those who support Brexit, and particularly no deal, as “Project Fear”: systemic fearmongering with no basis in any forecast, model, or preparation. Now, that forecast is in the public domain, written in the government’s words: there’s no hiding anymore.

• All Brexit food coverage [Eater London]
• The Impact of Brexit on Restaurants: Two Leading London Restaurateurs Discuss [Eater London]
• Supermarket and Fast Food Chiefs Extremely Concerned About No Deal Brexit [Eater London]
• U.K. Food Industry Reminds Boris Johnson That No Deal Brexit Will Do Mortal Damage [Eater London]
• No Deal Brexit Will Course Imminent and Ruinous Food Shortages, New Paper Says [Eater London]
• Food Industry Says No Deal Brexit Will Cause Months-Long Food Shortages [Eater London]
• No Deal Brexit Could Suck £5 Billion Out of the U.K. Restaurant Industry [Eater London]