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If the first job of a government is national security the second probably ought to be food security. Odd, then, that the SNP seems to be pursuing a policy of national starvation.
During May’s Holyrood election, economists – as well as anyone with a brain – panned the governing party’s manifesto commitment to introduce price caps on essential foods sold in supermarkets. This was an unnecessary electoral stunt that no one in the party had any intention of actually delivering.
Today, the Scottish government has begun going through the motions of pretending they will try to implement the policy by announcing a consultation period and releasing the draft Food Price Cap (Scotland) Bill.
One of the first things critics of the price caps pointed out was that supply would very quickly evaporate. The SNP’s announced plan – then, as now – was to force large grocery shops to provide at least one product range in each food category at a price deemed affordable by whoever the minister of foodstuffs is.
