Brexit: UK food industry wants legal waiver if no-deal causes ‘panic buying’

The UK food and drink industry asked the government for special protections in the event of a no-deal Brexit nearly a year ago, but are still waiting for an answer, it has emerged.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove (right), home secretary Priti Patel and transport secretary Grant Shapps during a visit to the Port of Dover for a meeting with port officials about the work they are doing to ensure the UK's smooth exit from the European Union. Picture: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire

Producers asked the previous administration for competition law to be set aside so firms could coordinate direct supplies with one another.

“We asked for these reassurances at the end of last year, but we’re still waiting,” the Food and Drink Federation said.

The revelation comes amid mounting fears of a no-deal Brexit as the UK and EU continue to refuse to negotiate with one another ahead of a 31 October deadline.

And research from the People’s Vote campaign, seeking a second EU referendum, yesterday claimed that food bills could rise by £190 a year per person in the event of No Deal.

The government sought to offer reassurance about preparations for a no-deal Brexit, with the cabinet minister in charge, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove, visiting the Port of Dover alongside Home Secretary Priti Patel and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

The ministers met with representatives of the haulage, freight and port sectors, with Mr Shapps pledging that “goods and transport will continue to move in a no-deal scenario”.

But because of stockpiling for Christmas, food industry experts warned leaving the EU in the autumn could pose more difficulties than the original Brexit date last March, with the UK reportedly needing 30 huge empty warehouses to store even a week’s extra food supply.

Justin King, former chief executive of Sainsbury’s and a People’s Vote backer said: “There is, at best, less than ten days of food in the system at any one time and October is just about the worst time to be generating this kind of crisis.

“The warehouses are all at capacity ahead of Christmas and as we hit the autumn we are more reliant on imported fresh food, as our growing season comes to an end.”

Crossbench peer Lord Haskins, a former chairman of Northern Foods, said he believed there could be “panic-buying” in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

He told the BBC’s Today programme: “We could be in a sort of wartime situation of a limited amount of food rationing.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has called for a cap on seasonal agricultural workers to be lifted after working a shift as a strawberry picker on a Fife farm.

East Granemuir Farm requested 20 workers as part of a 2,500 UK-wide pilot scheme, but received only 8.

“Brexit and the dramatic fall in the value of the pound has had an equally dramatic impact on the the number of workers from the rest of Europe travelling to work in the UK,” Mr Rennie said. “If the Prime Minister wants to boost agriculture he needs to urgently revisit the seasonal worker scheme and increase the number of staff available.”