UK Cabinet minister Michael Gove has admitted that some food prices could be on the rise in the country following no-deal Brexit.
“I think that there are a number of economic factors in play. Some prices may go up. Other prices will come down.” Gove told reporters on Sunday.
When asked about the risk of shortfalls in the food supply, he said that “everyone will have the food they need” and that “there will be no shortages of fresh food”.
Alleged Operation Yellowhammer to Tackle No Brexit Deal
Gove remarks come a few weeks after The Sunday Times published the leaked documents related to the British government’s so-called Operation Yellowhammer which allegedly deals with London’s concerns over possible chaos after no-deal Brexit.
The dossier specifically suggests that there could be disruption lasting up to six months across the Channel, which will impact the supply of medicines, fuel and certain types of fresh food.
The veracity of the documents has been widely challenged, with Reuters citing an unnamed UK government source as saying that the dossier “has been deliberately leaked by a former minister in an attempt to influence discussions with EU leaders” on Brexit.
Brexit Party chief Nigel Farage also slammed the dossier, stating that the documents were “civil service” files rather than government ones, and that there was "no way" the civil service had been neutral through the Brexit preparation process.
He also alleged that the civil service was using fear mongering to do its "utmost to stop Brexit.”
Former UK Chancellor Philip Hammond, for his part, insisted that he wants Prime Minister Boris Johnson to extend apologies to all former ministers in Theresa May’s administration, after the current government wrongly blamed one of them for releasing details of the government's post-no-deal Brexit
“It has now become apparent that the leaked document was in fact dated August 2019 and would not therefore have been available to any former minister who is not serving in the current administration,” Hammond pointed out in a letter Johnson.
Boris Johnson Prorogues Parliament for Month
In a separate development, Johnson announced his decision to prorogue the parliament for a month on 28 August, saying that the previous session lasted for 340 days and should be brought to a close.
After his order was approved by the Queen on the same day, Johnson said that he will set out a new post-Brexit domestic agenda during the upcoming Queen's Speech on 14 October.
The UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016. After former Prime Minister Theresa May failed to come up with an acceptable plan to leave the bloc by March 29 of this year, the deadline was moved to 31 October.
In late July, Johnson, an keen advocate of Brexit, won the Conservative leadership and then promised to deliver the withdrawal by the 31 October deadline - with or without a deal.
