IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh has written for City AM criticising Rishi Sunak’s pledge to maintain subsidies to UK food producers.

Matthew wrote:

“It’s the diversity of supply that enables supermarket shelves to be full. A government report published in October last year made precisely this point: ‘Over-reliance on one geographical area and dependence on particular supply sources makes food supply more vulnerable, while diversity of sources makes it more resilient.’

“Do you remember the great wheat shortage of 2020? Probably not, because despite the UK’s wheat yields diving by 40% due to lousy weather, prices barely went up (by 8% year-on-year). This was because the UK could still import wheat from other parts of the world, with the quantity imported jumping from 988,000 tonnes in 2019/20 to 2.3 million in 2020/21. Bad flooding over recent months could make it another challenging year for domestic food production. But once again, imports will guarantee Britain’s food security.”

Read Matthew’s full piece in City AM (22/02/2024, p.16).