The tomato crisis comes as one of the expressions of the relatively difficult living conditions that Britain suffers from. The newspaper even called for preparing menus in Italian stores in the United Kingdom with pasta with less sauce and white pizza without tomatoes, because these stores either have to raise prices or dispense with tomatoes.
The crisis of rising tomato prices was clearly mentioned by the Union of Italian Chefs in Britain, which highlighted the successive increases in tomato prices as follows:
- The price of tomatoes has quadrupled from last year, from £5 to £20.
- Canned tomatoes have gone up from £15 to £30 compared to last year.
- Lettuce prices have risen from £7 to £22 a box.
Economic storms!
In this context, a member of the British Labor Party, Mustafa Ragab, said in exclusive statements to the “Sky News Arabia Economy” website, that Britain has gone through three economic storms; The first of them was the crisis of leaving the European Union “Brexit”, then the “Covid-19” pandemic, followed by the repercussions of the war in Ukraine, adding: “The British suffer the effects of the three storms together, bringing the situation to the point that there is difficulty in obtaining some basic commodities such as tomatoes and cucumbers “.
He explains that in the last introductory budget, the government promised that there would be stability within two months, but this was not achieved and the matter became mere promises, and inflation rates rose, and the interest rate was raised to 4 percent, which caused very severe unrest and great concern in all sectors, which made prompted renewed strikes; Because salaries are not enough for families.
Expectations of a 7 percent increase in the cost of living
At the same time, he points out that there are expectations indicating that the cost of living will rise by 7 percent during the next two years, at a time when the government is facing very great challenges, adding: “When you walk in the streets of London, you find many shops closed as a result of bankruptcy, and this is evidence of the situation Economic”.
He added, “Citizens are suffering so badly that some of them were forced not to use their cars due to the high cost of petrol, in addition to saving money in buying food and using heating.”
Then he believes that “it will get worse”; And this is in light of the uncertainty related to the future of the war in Ukraine, considering that the concern is “double”; There is concern about what is known (i.e., what is happening in Ukraine at present), and about what is unknown, i.e. what may happen in the future in this war and its economic repercussions on Europe.
The rent crisis is closing in on the British
The crisis of the high cost of basic materials is added to many other crises related to the general economic situation, which directly affect people’s lives, including the “rent arrears” crisis at a value of up to 360 million pounds sterling, according to the estimates of the Deputy Executive Director of the concerned “The Connection” organization. Homeless Affairs Rosie Blacksmith.
On this matter, Rajab says that many British citizens have rent arrears, and the government does not interfere, but rather requests a reduction in rents in consideration of living conditions.
The only major industrial country that will experience an economic downturn
The International Monetary Fund had confirmed that Britain will be the only country among the Group of Seven whose economy will witness a contraction this year, stressing that high interest rates and taxes make the outlook for the United Kingdom “more bleak”:
- Britain’s economy is expected to contract by 0.6 percent in 2023.
- This forecast is 0.9 percentage points worse than it was previously expected to be.
- Britain slipped from top to bottom in the G7 ranking.
Faced with these conditions, social networking sites have become an outlet for many citizens who mocked and mocked the current situation, according to the British newspaper “The Independent”, commenting on the absence of vegetables and fruits from the shelves in stores for a whole week.
Not only will the price of tomatoes rise, but the British, for example, may stop growing apples within the next two years, according to a grower of the Apple and Pears Association in Britain.
disturbances within families
A member of the British Labor Party confirms that these economic conditions affected the social life of British families, as a result of the high cost of living, and affected some habits of social communication between citizens.
In his interview with the “Sky News Arabia Economy” website, he points out that some stores have issued regulatory rules related to what a person can obtain from vegetable and fruit stores during one-time purchase, explaining that the large supermarket chains have already announced this matter, “and the problem is that most of the shelves Therefore, the citizen may not find these commodities that he wants to obtain.
- Britain’s inflation rate fell to its lowest level in three months at 10.5 percent last December.
- But food and drink prices continued to rise at their fastest rate since 1977.
- Core consumer price inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, remained steady at 6.3 percent last December.
- Core consumer price inflation is viewed by economists as a better guide to underlying inflation trends.
Reality or “exaggeration”?!
While tomatoes are one of the commodities that most expressed the significant increase in prices, the British government blames the bad weather in southern Europe and North Africa, which caused a shortage of tomatoes and then an increase in their prices, in addition to the fact that high electricity prices affected tomatoes grown in the greenhouse. In some European countries that Britain depends on, such as the Netherlands.
Despite the pessimistic estimates of the International Monetary Fund for the prospects of the British economy in the short term, the economic analyst in London, Ahmed Yassin, believes that there is a lot of what he described as “media exaggeration” regarding the economic crisis that Britain is going through, adding in exclusive statements to the “Sky News” website. Arabia,” that the value of basic foodstuffs has increased greatly, and this is linked to the high level of inflation, and this rise now constitutes a global phenomenon that the global economy as a whole, not just Britain, is facing, because of energy prices.
And the economic analyst adds: The rise in energy prices is mainly related to the successive waves of economic sanctions that were imposed on Moscow, and Russia is a key country for balance in the global energy sector.
However, the head of the Italian Chefs Union in the United Kingdom, Enzo Oliveri, in turn, had confirmed to the Guardian newspaper the suffering of life, saying that he does not see light at the end of the tunnel due to the high prices, especially vegetables, warning that as a result of the high cost, many companies may find themselves Forced to stop working and shut down.
According to Olivieri, some restaurants are trying to adapt to this reality by offering menus that do not include tomatoes, or more precisely, serving pizza and white pasta, in light of the high prices and at the same time the shortage of supply.
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