Nando’s temporarily closes stores across UK due to supply issues
Labour has blamed the government for the supply chain “crisis” causing food shortages and said the problems “are only going to get worse” without action.
It comes after reports that major chains, including Nando’s and McDonalds, were all experiencing issues with their stock. “Like KFC, Greggs is dealing with chicken shortages amid the UK’s ongoing labour crisis,” the PoliticsHome website revealed yesterday.
“The chaos hitting supply chains is of the Tories’ making,” the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said on Twitter today. “Their failure to keep their promise to cut red tape, combined with worker shortages, has created a perfect storm.”
A shortage of drivers is thought to be the root cause of the issue, as the majority of long-haul EU drivers returned home due to harsh immigration rules enforced by Boris Johnson’s government after the UK’s divorce from Europe.
Iceland’s boss warned on Wednesday that supply disruption could see Christmas “cancelled” for some families this year.
Driver shortage could hike up food prices, warn supermarkets
Supermarkets and hauliers have said shoppers could face long-term higher prices for food as result of shortages, caused by an arrange of issues including changes to the supply chain.
Bosses at the Road Haulage Association told the PA news agency the “substantial” pay rises offered by firms in need of new drivers could force supermarket bosses to pass the costs on to customers.
Hauliers have warned that there is a shortfall of around 100,000 drivers. This has been driven by thousands of European drivers leaving during the pandemic and not returning, as well as “high numbers” of workers retiring.
The average age of an HGV driver in the UK is 55.
The government introduced a seasonal worker visa scheme in December for 30,000 workers, primarily for the summer fruit picking season, but meat processors were excluded.
Rod McKenzie, managing director of policy and public affairs at the Road Haulage Association, told PA that the shortage of drivers needs urgent Government action and firms have offered better incentives and pay deals to secure potential recruits.
“Certainly drivers’ pay is increasing, often by quite substantial amounts,” he said. “This in turn is a cost that will need to be passed on, and given the tight profit margins of most haulage operators that means their rates to customers will have to go up. In turn, this may mean more of us paying higher prices for goods, services and shopping – including food prices – going forward.”
Meanwhile, a supermarket boss also told the news agency that increasing wages for drivers will result in inflationary pressure for retailers.
They said: “Paying drivers more, in itself isn’t the solution as it is resulting in them making choices about the level of working hours and balancing reduced hours along with weekend working … To ease the pressure we need the government to quickly allow us to access the EU labour market, whilst the industry must also play its part in increasing the driver pool through fast-track driver programmes and apprenticeships.”
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 14:17
Opinion: ‘PM needs to act fast to prevent another cancelled Christmas’
Our comment editor Chris Stevenson has weighed in on the food shortage crisis, writing:
The list of companies going public about facing supply chain issues just keeps getting longer – Greggs, Iceland, the Co-op, Nandos, KFC. We are now fully in “crisis” territory, with many across the food industry expecting problems to stretch towards Christmas and beyond.
There is certainly safety in numbers; the brands can line up behind each other to put pressure on the government. With last Christmas having been disrupted by Covid – another factor, alongside Brexit, in the lorry driver shortages that are helping create the shortages – the government can ill afford more nationwide issues this year.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats are also lining up to tell Boris Johnson to do something. Ministers should not ignore the fears over Christmas shortages, even if some Brexiteers might look to play them down as summer fears that should have little impact come winter.
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 14:02
Home Office to keep housing migrants at ‘squalid’ barracks site
Boris Johnson’s government will continue to hold migrants at a former army barracks in Kent in defiance of a court ruling which deemed the facility “unsafe” and “squalid”, according to reports first published in The Sun.
The Home Office has decided to carry on using the Napier Barracks for asylum seekers despite a High Court judge deciding that the facility failed to meet the “minimum standard” for accommodation, writes Adam Forrest.
According to the tabloid, ministers are set to agree a deal which would see the former army barracks used to house migrants for another four years, until at 2025.
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 13:35
PM faces pressure to U-turn on Universal Credit cuts
Boris Johnson was asked today whether the £20 uplift to Universal Credit would remain after Tory MPs Peter Aldous and John Stevenson said the increase should be made permanent.
Speaking to Sky and the BBC, the PM said: “The key focus for this government is on making sure that we come out of Covid strongly, with a jobs-led recovery, and I’m very pleased to see the way the unemployment numbers, the unemployment rate has been falling, employment has been rising, but also wages have been rising.
“That’s a crucial thing.”
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 13:15
Declare ‘peak poultry’ to save jaguars from extinction, experts say
Is the chicken shortage so bad? Jane Dalton reports on how the UK’s obsession with poultry is “devastating wildlife in the Amazon”.
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 12:55
Scottish green co-leaders to become ministers under SNP deal
Scottish Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater will serve as ministers in Nicola Sturgeon’s government as part of a powersharing agreement, a report suggests.
The deal, which was negotiated over the summer after the SNP fell one seat short of an overall majority in May’s election, was announced last Friday and has since been backed by the ruling party’s national executive committee.
A shared policy platform was published which the two sides agreed to support, with the Greens also pledging to back the Scottish government in confidence votes and annual budgets – if they have sufficient input into the process.
The Greens have now confirmed their co-leaders will be the ones appointed as ministers.
They will hold broad portfolios, with one position responsible for decarbonising homes and transport and the rental sector, while the other will focus on green skills, the energy industry and the natural environment.
The Scottish government will announce who will take each portfolio next week if the deal is confirmed.
Mr Harvie, who has been in Parliament since 2003, said: “With Greens in government we would be able to deliver positive change like tackling Scotland’s emissions, protecting nature, advancing tenants’ rights. Bringing forward overdue equalities legislation and delivering an independence referendum.
“I am proud of our vibrant party democracy and look forward to discussing and debating this deal with members on Saturday and if they back it, they can be assured that we’ll waste no time getting to work to deliver on this transformative agenda.”
Additional reporting by PA
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 12:28
Lib Dems want immigration rethink so EU workers can return
My colleague Adam Forrest reports the following:
The Liberal Democrats said the government must rethink its immigration policy and scrap its “arbitrary” threshold on salaries for skilled worker visas to help address the shortage of factory workers and lorry drivers.
“The chaos and incompetence of this government is now causing food shortages on supermarket shelves,” said Alistair Carmichael, the party’s home affairs spokesperson.
“Priti Patel needs to admit she got this wrong and change the rules so British businesses can recruit the workers they need.”
He added: “The government should scrap its arbitrary salary threshold and end the ludicrous system that rejects carers and other key workers as ‘unskilled’. It’s time for Tory ministers to put the needs of the British economy above their anti-immigration ideology.”
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 12:06
More than third of UK citizenship applications from EU nationals
Amid the shortage of workers left in the UK, statistics show EU nationals now account for more than a third of all applications for British citizenship.
Some 37 per cent of all applications submitted in the year ending June 2021 were from EU nationals, compared with 12 per cent in 2016, according to data published by the Home Office on Thursday.
Applications for British citizenship by EU nationals rose by 83 per cent in comparison with the previous year, to 74,384 – the highest number in a 12-month period since comparable records began in 2004.
The Home Office said this increase is likely to reflect more people seeking to confirm their status in the UK following Brexit.
The latest data from the scheme show that 6.09 million applications had been received up to 31 July 2021, according to the Home Office.
Overall, statistics show there were 200,177 applications for British citizenship in the year ending June this year, 35 per cent more than in the year ending June 2020.
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 11:56
‘Govt must step up and sort out shortage crisis,’ says Reeves
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 11:40
Ministers must fix supply chain ‘chaos’, says Labour
My colleague Adam Forrest reports the following:
Labour has blamed the government for the supply chain crisis causing food shortages and said the problems “are only going to get worse” without action.
Seema Malhotra MP, shadow minister for business and consumers, said: “The chaos hitting supply chains is of the Conservative’ making. Their failure to keep their promise to cut red tape for businesses, which are struggling with more paperwork and higher costs, combined with worker shortages, has created a perfect storm.”
She said ministers must put in place “short-term solutions to deal with this acute crisis,” adding: “They must also end their chronic dismissal of these concerns, having accused the industry of ‘crying wolf’ over driver shortages, and take action to deliver on the promise of post-Brexit Britain.”
Sam Hancock26 August 2021 11:33
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