A TORY Minister has issued a rallying call to arms to Brits to save their local chippy.
Mark Spencer, a Minister in the Department Fisheries, Food and Agriculture, made the plea amid growing concern about the future of many takeaways.
The cost-of-living crisis, coupled with a rise in the price of fish is leading to many struggling to stay afloat.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Spencer said chippies were facing the same pressures as other shops on the High Street.
He told Gloria De Piero: “You can make the same argument about the High Street as well. You know it’s not just fish and chip shops, there are lots of those shops that are under pressure.
“Now the fundamental answer, the direct answer is you’ve got to use them otherwise you’ll lose them. If you don’t use your fish and chip shop it will disappear because it won’t have the trade to be able to continue. You know, I would say to people, ‘Use your fish and chip shop because it’s a great British tradition. And just take a few mushy peas on the side as well’.”
His comments come months after a report claimed half of Britain’s 10,500 fish and chip shops could close due to rocketing costs.
As many as 5,000 face being battered by crippling tariffs and the soaring prices of ingredients, government figures reveal.
The combination means the price of a fish and chip supper could rise from an average £8.50 to £11.50.
And hake and other types of white fish could replace traditional cod and haddock shipped in from overseas.
The latest blow came last week when ministers pressed ahead with a 35 per cent tariff on all seafood imported from Russia in a bid to hammer President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.
Around a third of all UK-imported white fish comes from Russia which controls up to 45 per cent of the global supply.
Lancashire chip shop owner Andrew Crook, of the National Federation of Fish Friers, said his cod supplies have already risen from £8 to £14 a kilo.
He warned: “These extra tariffs will push thousands of shops over the edge.”
Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said: “Costs will go up — but there is a big opportunity to increase North Sea catches such as haddock and whiting.”
