And here’s a video clip of the turnip comments:
Updated
Closing post
Time to recap….
Thérèse Coffey, Defra secretary of state, told MPs the UK’s fruit and vegetable shortages could last another two to four weeks.
Coffey also argued that Britons should ‘cherish the specialisms’ for food in the UK, saying that without food imports “A lot of people would be eating turnips right now” rather than thinking of lettuce and tomatoes.
Turnips > tomatoes?
— Bloomberg (@business) February 23, 2023
UK Environment Secretary Therese Coffey says British people should "cherish the specialisms that we have in this country" as grocers ration sales of some vegetables due to a supply crunch https://t.co/Q094IEJUcb pic.twitter.com/SQYaXLb8Yk
A Downing Street spokesman said the environment secretary was explaining the importance of “celebrating” British produce, saying:
“We don’t believe it is for us to tell people what they should or shouldn’t buy – that is entirely a matter for them.
“I think what the Secretary of State was doing was setting out the importance of celebrating the produce that we grow here in the UK but, ultimately, it is for individuals to decide what food they wish to buy.”
Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons are all now rationing certain fresh produce lines as shortages of salad crops hit the UK.
The British Tomato Growers Association (BTGA) has predicted there will be “significant volumes” of British tomatoes on supermarket shelves by the end of March.
But Philip Pearson, development director at the UK’s largest tomato producer, has pointed out that the government was warned there would be empty shelves without more support.
Pearson told the Guardian:
“I don’t want to sound ‘I told you so,’ as that doesn’t help anybody, but we are where we were worried we would end up.”
Justin King, the former CEO of Sainsbury’s, argued that Britain had brought the problem on itself – telling Radio 4’s Today Programme that Brexit had disrupted the agricultural sector.
There is a genuine shortage but we did rather bring this problem upon ourselves.
“We could have chosen to subsidise the energy this winter as we have done for other industries.”
City analyst Clive Black told clients that the UK food system has been hindered by “abject policy failure and inept policy implementation” by the government.
The Liberal Democrats have called for an urgent COBRA meeting, together with food experts, supermarkets and farmers, to hammer out a solution to this crisis.
Over in Spain, growers have said ffluctuating temperatures, increased production costs and the knock-on effects of Brexit are all contributing to the UK’s vegetable shortages.
In other news, Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann has warned it is too early to stop raising UK interest rates.
In a speech at the Resolution Foundation’s headquarters in London, Mann argued that high interest rates were needed to prevent inflation becoming embedded in wages and prices. She warned this could lead to “extended persistence of inflation into this year and the next”.
The EU’s executive body has banned its thousands of staff from using TikTok over cybersecurity concerns, a decision the Chinese-owned social video app has criticised as “misguided” and based on “fundamental misconceptions”.
In the energy world, the head of the International Energy Agency has warned that the battle between Europe and Russia is not over, despite a sharp drop in wholesale gas prices that has eased concerns over high bills and blackouts.
Ministers are under pressure to cut subsidies to the operator of Britain’s biggest power station after it reported an 84% increase in annual profits, helped by high electricity prices.
Weapons maker BAE Systems has also profited from the Ukraine conflict. It predicted higher earnings this year after posting record new orders in 2022, as Western governments ramp up military spending.
Shares in Rolls-Royce have surged 22% today, after its new boss launched a sweeping review of the aircraft engine maker, pledging that there is “much more” to come after last year beat expectations.
Britain’s energy regulator, Ofgem, is facing a boardroom overhaul amid stinging criticism over alleged failures in its oversight of the prepayment scandal.
Heathrow has hit out at the regulator accusing it of “getting it wrong” on its pricing while its airline customers such as British Airways “charge what they like” and make “huge profits” on high fares.
New analysis has revealed that women “work for free for nearly two months” a year, due to a 15% gender pay gap that widens “dramatically” after women have children.
And on the economic front, US economic growth has been revised lower due to weaker consumer spending. US GDP grew by 2.7% per year in Q4 2022, not the 2.9% first estimated.
