In a small restaurant fish and chipsan emblematic dish of the United Kingdom, the owner explains that the war in Ukraine had a major impact on his production costs.
His fish comes from Russia. The oil used to fry it is usually imported from Ukraine. It is an increasingly rare product, the value of which has almost doubled, he confides.
This is without taking into account the rise in energy costs, particularly marked in the United Kingdom. According to the energy consulting firm Cornwall Insight, quoted by the media Bloomberg, the energy bill of the average British household could reach 2900 pounds sterling per year from next October, the equivalent of more than 4500 Canadian dollars.
Birmingham is the second largest city in the UK.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Raphaël Bouvier-Auclair
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<q data-attributes="{"lang":{"value":"fr","label":"Français"},"value":{"html":"Personnellement, ma facture est de 170pounds per month, and I’m told it will increase to 500pounds next month”,”text”:”Personally, my bill is 170 pounds per month, and I am told that it will increase to 500 pounds next month”}}”>Personally, my bill is 170 pounds per month, and I am told that it will increase to 500 pounds next monthsays Junaid Butt, who works for the organization Human Relief Foundation.
His humanitarian organization is usually deployed in the Middle East and Africa to help refugees fleeing war. However, given the economic situation in their own country, Junaid Butt and his colleagues decided to start operations in Birmingham.
Boxes of cereals, canned food and sunflower oil: at their premises in a multicultural area of Birmingham, a small food bank has sprung up to help members of the community.
Daily dilemmas
To illustrate the needs his organization is trying to meet, Junaid Butt explains that he talks to parents who are trying to limit their food intake to ensure that their children have full bellies.
« To hear that from working class parents in the UK is amazing, because that’s the kind of situation you usually see in Third World countries suffering the consequences of war. »
Food distributed at a Sikh center in Birmingham
Photo: Radio-Canada / Raphaël Bouvier-Auclair
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The economic repercussions of the Russian invasion in Ukraine do not help, assures Harjit Kaur, responsible for relations with the parents of a school in the district and collaborator of the Human Relief Foundation.
It is difficult for the basic needs of the families, for example to get oil for cooking
she says.
Very involved in the community, she also tries to support other organizations that help people who are alone or in need.
« The needs are growing. Every day, families ask us to provide them with food. »
When we accompany her, she goes to deliver food collected at the Human Relief Foundation’s food bank to the premises of a Sikh association in Birmingham.
Harjit Kaur is the parent relations manager at a school in Birmingham.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Raphaël Bouvier-Auclair
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Near the kitchen, where women prepare dishes that will be donated to the community, inflation, which has reached a level not seen in 40 years, once again invites itself into the discussions.
You have to think twice
before making purchases, says one of the center’s managers.
Bal, another member of the community, talks about the dilemma of some Britons who decide to limit heating to reduce their energy consumption.
We went to someone’s house, it was cold, it wasn’t heating
she explains.
And the situation does not seem to be improving anytime soon. While promising help for families across the country, the UK government admits the outlook is not encouraging.
The next few months will be difficult
British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak acknowledged last month.
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