UK govt risks 'crippling' food security: trade group

The UK government's crash programme of visas for foreign poultry workers risks being too little, too late to avert food shortages, an industry group said Monday.

The government's post-Brexit immigration and trade policies "risk crippling British food security", and longer-term solutions are needed, British Poultry Council chief executive Richard Griffiths said.

The announcement of a temporary visa scheme for 5,500 poultry workers and 5,000 lorry drivers for the three months to Christmas was "a positive step in the right direction", he said in a statement.

"Nevertheless, there is a risk that this intervention comes too late," Griffiths warned.