Boris Johnson says 'Christmas is on' amid spiralling gas prices and concerns of supermarket shortages

Industry experts have raised concerns that there could be issues getting hold of products within days, as the shortage of Co2 caused by raising gas prices begins to bite.

Speaking from New York, the Prime Minister insisted that people will not struggle over the coming winter months.

When asked if the public could be facing problems over the colder months, he told ITN: “No, because I think this is a short-term problem caused by the energy problems, the spikes in gas prices, and like many of the other supply issues we are seeing, including food, are caused by the world economy waking up after a long time in this suspended animation caused by Covid.

“We will do whatever we can to address the supply issues but this is a short-term problem.”

When asked a similar question by Sky News he commented: “Christmas is on”.

Mr Johnson - alongside new Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Cop26 President Alok Sharma - is on a trip to the United States which includes UN meetings and a trip to the White House on its schedule.

The Prime Minister also got the opportunity to meet with Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, where the issue of fair taxation arose.

“What I did say to him was that we in the UK feel very strongly that the internet giants need to be making their fair share of contribution in tax,” Mr Johnson told ITN.

“When you sell many many billions worth of goods in the UK then you’ve got to expect to be taxed fairly in the UK.”

Asked how Mr Bezos responded, the Prime Minister told Channel 5 News: “He’s a capitalist and he made the very important point that this is a job for governments."