Minister tells public to stockpile food as UK unprepared for supply shocks

A government minister has told the public to stock up on food to prepare for extreme weather, as a watchdog warns the UK has failed to build resilience into its food supply chains.

The BBC reports the advice came as part of wider warnings about the country's vulnerability to disruption. The Guardian carries the watchdog's assessment that not enough has been done to prepare for shocks to food supplies - a conclusion that arrives as diesel prices hit record highs in the United States, raising the prospect of increased transport costs feeding through to British supermarkets.

The advice is striking for what it concedes. A minister telling households to stockpile is an admission that the system cannot be relied upon to deliver under pressure. The UK imports roughly half its food by value, and the supply chains that move it depend on diesel, global shipping routes, and stable borders. Any one of those can fail - and when several fail at once, the shelves empty faster than the system can respond. The watchdog's warning suggests the state knows this and has chosen not to fix it.

What to watch: whether the advice moves from a single minister's warning to formal government guidance, and whether any money follows to address the structural dependencies the watchdog has identified. The gap between telling people to prepare and actually preparing the country is the story.