New Brexit Checks Risk Meat And Cheese Prices Soaring Even Higher
The food and drink sector is bracing for a Brexit shock later this year (Alamy)
5 min read49 min
Post-Brexit import checks due to be introduced this autumn are predicted to cause “a shock in the system” with the price of meat and dairy spiking even higher than it already has as a result of food inflation.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made halving inflation which reached a record high of 11.1 per cent last October one of his five core missions, a promise some economists are increasingly doubtful he can keep. In recent weeks he has come under growing pressure to get a grip of food inflation specifically – which has remained stubbornly high and is a key driver of strain on household finances.
Overall inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index was measured at 8.7 per cent in April, a drop from 10.1 per cent in March, but the contraction is largely driven by the decrease in energy costs, while food prices remain high. Food inflation appeared to slow slightly in May, with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) on Tuesday putting the rate at 15.4 per cent, down from 15.7 per cent, and the government is considering how to reduce it by a much larger portion amid the ongoing cost-of-living pressures.
Industry figures blame soaring prices primarily on Covid, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the UK’s exit from the European Union. But they expect the impact of Brexit to exacerbate the situation even further when the government finally introduces checks on EU imports later this year, putting strain on food supply chains, which could see prices rise even more.
Meat and dairy products are expected to the most acutely affected, as they will be treated as posing the greatest health risk to the UK under the government’s revised border…
..