The intergovernmental group formed the day before Boris Johnson began a major overhaul, which was tasked with “fixing” supply problems, came under the supervision of Michael Gove. Reports at the time claimed that Mr Johnson had joked with Mr Gove – then a cabinet minister – that he “did not want to have to cancel Christmas again” as the National Logistics Recovery Team was set up. . However, in response to a parliamentary question from Labor Deputy Leader Angela Rayner in March this year, Michael Ellis, the current cabinet minister, was forced to admit that the task force, announced on September 14, 2021, did not exist. most. “When the structures of the prime minister’s cabinet committee were renewed, gov.uk was updated in October 2021 and this no longer included the National Economic Working Group (Logistics),” he said. The minister insisted that logistics and supply chains remain a “priority” for the government, adding that “they are regularly discussed by ministers in a number of forums”. The cabinet’s office later said work was continuing to strengthen the resilience of supply chains, but now through a committee focusing on domestic issues. Answering a separate question, Mr Ellis declined to comment on whether the logistics team had met “at least once” before being removed from the cabinet’s list of committees. “It is a long-standing precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in the cabinet and its committees and how often they have met is not made public,” he said. Ms Rayner told the Independent that this proves that the government was “unprepared for the problems facing our country, which will only exacerbate the cost of living crisis.” “They are going from crisis to crisis,” he said. “Instead of serious solutions, all they have are tricks and fake announcements to pull cheap titles, without a real plan to solve the problem. The consequences are clear – travel chaos and rising prices for ordinary people. “They are now set up to set up a fake working group to hide the fact that they have no plan to protect supply chains and alleviate the travel disaster facing the British people.” But a government spokesman said: “These allegations are inaccurate. Logistics and supply chains are a priority for the government and are regularly discussed by ministers in a number of forums. “We are committed to supporting people with cost of living pressures and have already provided more than 22 22 billion in aid in 2022-2023.” Andy Prendergast, national secretary of the GMB union, said: “The logistics crisis has had serious consequences for the economy as a whole – but it’s getting nothing more than a word from the government. “You would have thought, since you saw the public plagued by empty shelves and chaos in transport, the task force would have taken serious action to address the problems.” He added: “As usual, everything is talk and no action by a government that is not able to address the problems that affect households throughout our country.”
