By Charlotte Ndupuechi.
The Bank of England held rates yesterday—but the direction is clear: they could climb as high as 6%.
For millions of households already stretched by rising food prices, soaring energy bills, and stagnant wages, that message will have landed hard.
Recent conflict in Iran has once again highlighted just how reliant the UK is on the rest of the world for essentials—fuel, food, raw materials, and manufactured goods. The UK has become deeply dependent on imports, while domestic production has steadily declined. Key industries such as steel have shrunk or disappeared, leaving us exposed to fragile global supply chains that can be disrupted overnight by war, political instability, or economic shocks.
Yet the response from government still seems to be: keep calm and carry on.
But should we?
Petrol now sits at £1.58; diesel at £1.91. In 2000, when fuel prices reached around 80p per litre, protests by hauliers brought the country to a standstill. Refineries were blockaded, and supply chains disrupted.
Today, we face something broader and arguably more serious: a prolonged cost of living crisis affecting food, energy, housing, and wages all at once. Yet there is a growing acceptance that this is simply how life is: work more, pay more, expect less.
The UK needs a serious, joined-up approach to food and energy security. I have written before about the need for a national food strategy. We need something akin to the “Dig for Victory” campaign of the Second World War—a modern “Grow for Britain” movement that supports local food production, community growing spaces, allotments, school gardens, and a renewed understanding of self-sufficiency.
This is not nostalgia. It is resilience—and necessity. Cheap imports have left us exposed. We need to rebuild local capacity, strengthen supply chains, and reduce dependence on fragile global systems.
What is missing is political urgency. We need a national strategy for food and energy security, backed by real investment and political will. Waiting for the next crisis is not leadership—it’s a gamble.
As we approach the May elections, perhaps these are the questions that matter most. When candidates knock on our doors, we should be asking: what actually is the plan?
Or are we simply meant to keep calm and carry on?
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