Brown warns ‘spivs and speculators’ will profit from shortages

A no-deal Brexit will make the UK a “paradise” for speculators, spivs and smugglers to make money out of medicine shortages, Gordon Brown is to warn.

Mr Brown will argue that, if the country crashes out of the EU without a deal, speculators will “cash in” by stockpiling food and medicines.

Mr Brown is expected to urge Boris Johnson “to curb and punish speculators, spivs and smugglers profiteering from the miseries” when he addresses the annual conference of Scottish councils in St Andrews today.

Arguing that the UK is dependent on Europe for one million medical consignments a day and 30% of our food supplies, Mr Brown will warn that profiteering from post-Brexit problems “will ultimately affect millions of ordinary people”.

Mr Brown will tell the Cosla conference that the October 31 deadline could become “a spivs’ and speculators’ paradise”, adding: “With exactly three weeks to go to October 31 and a no-deal Brexit edging closer, it’s not just hedge funds that may be trying to cash in.

“Speculators are poised to swoop on stockpiles of medicines and food supplies and to profit from a hit to the pound, and even from the sale of carbon credits that were originally designed to protect our environment.

“It is inevitable that we will see a return of ‘the spiv’, as speculation around food and medicine shortages and the falling pound are guaranteed to reward them handsomely.

“Already Ash Soni, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, has said he has never seen so many commonly-used drugs affected by shortages. One survey says we are low on statins, anti-depressants, eye drops, painkillers and wound dressings – and that’s even before the October 31 cliff edge.

“While, to avoid profiteering, the NHS has already banned the export of 30 drugs to Europe for the foreseeable future, I fear many more medical supplies could be taken from stockpiles and sold abroad in a wave of cashing in.

“And even food is set become a plaything, with a combination of shortages, stockpiling and a fall in the pound making ruthless profiteering possible at the expense of food price rises for hard-pressed families.”