Iran war: Government making contingency plans for food shortages in 'worst case scenario'
EasyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis said all the airports it serves - including Leeds Bradford - are “operating as normal”.
The public should be “reassured” that ministers are making contingency plans for the impact of the Iran war, the Business Secretary has said following a leak suggesting the worst-case scenario could see food shortages.
The Government is preparing for food shortages as a result of the conflict, according to the Times.
Though the war is not likely to lead to critical shortages, a reasonable worst-case scenario from leaked Government plans shared with the newspaper suggests there could be less variety on supermarket shelves should fighting continue unabated.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) supplies would also be hit should the conflict last into the summer according to the same leak, which would have an impact on the storage of packaged meats and salads, and on breweries, who use the gas to make drinks fizzy.
On Thursday, the boss of Tesco said the supermarket was in “constant contact” with the Government to support its contingency planning, but had not seen any problems with suppliers so far.
Peter Kyle told Times Radio the Government did not comment on leaks, but he added: “It is difficult for me, because, of course, these leaks are very unhelpful.
“But when people do read it, they need to be reassured that we are doing this kind of planning, and we are doing this kind of scenario planning.
“Bear in mind that back in Covid, Boris Johnson missed five Cobra meetings in the lead up to it.
“I can tell you, because I’m in these meetings, the Prime Minister has been there since the very start, and he is going through personally and driving deep dives into lots of areas of resilience throughout our economy.”
He later insisted supplies of carbon dioxide are “not a concern” for the UK.
Mr Kyle said he had mothballed a CO2-producing plant in Teesside shortly after becoming Business Secretary in order to prevent it shutting down completely.
On the outbreak of war, the Government provided funding to reactivate the Ensus bioethanol plant, which makes CO2 as a by-product, in order to shore up supplies of the gas.
Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy said the Government was “doing the right thing” in planning for the worst-case scenario.
It comes as the head of the world’s energy watchdog warned that Europe only has six weeks’ supply of jet fuel because of Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), warned there could be flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain restricted by the Iran war.
Mr Birol said this is causing “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced”.
He said Asian countries such as Japan, India and China that rely on energy from the Middle East are on “the front line”, but pressure will then “come to Europe and the Americas”.
Europe has “maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left”, he warned.
If the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, the impact on Europe may be that “some of the flights from city A to city B might be cancelled as a result of lack of jet fuel”, he added.
Earlier yesterday, easyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis said all the airports it serves - including Leeds Bradford - are “operating as normal”.