Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the public “should go on” enjoying food and beer despite “worst-case scenario” planning for carbon dioxide shortages.
LONDON — Fans of the beautiful game shouldn’t panic about the beer running out during this year’s World Cup — yet.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle tried to reassure Brits Thursday that they’ll be able to enjoy a pint during this summer’s football tournament. It comes amid reports officials are drawing up contingency plans for a shortage of the carbon dioxide used to make fizzy drinks as the Strait of Hormuz closure bites.
Directly questioned about whether Brits will be able to get a beer during the summer World Cup, which starts on June 11, Kyle said: “At this moment, this is not a concern for our economy, okay? I can reassure people of that.”
He added: “If that changes … I will speak about it, and I will make an announcement about it.”
Government analysis of a prolonged closure of the the Strait of Hormuz leaked to the Times warns the availability of chicken, pork and other supermarket goods could be affected if the Iran conflict impacts supplies of the gas, which is critical to the food and drink industry.
It increases the shelf life of salad, packaged meats and baked goods, and is also used to slaughter nearly all pigs and two thirds of chickens.
The worst-case scenario in “Exercise Turnstone” assumed the strait had not been opened and a permanent peace deal hadn’t been reached by June, according to the report.
Kyle argued in a Sky News interview that such government preparatory exercises are perfectly normal. “Now this information is out there, I hope people are reassured that we’re doing this work,” he said. “The reason why you shouldn’t have to be thinking about it is you should expect government to be doing these sorts of things.”
But Kyle added: “If any of these things change, I will be upfront with the public about it … but right now people should go on as they are enjoying beer, enjoying their meats, enjoying all the salads,” he said.