A Cabinet minister has said he was “somewhat surprised” to hear the Bank of England warn of “apocalyptic” food price rises.

Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis was quizzed by Sky News’ Kay Burley on the comments made by BoE governor Andrew Bailey in a select committee appearance on Monday.

Mr Bailey told MPs that rising food prices, at a time when supplies of goods such as wheat and cooking oil are being squeezed due to the war in Ukraine – a major producer – was a factor “that I am going to sound rather apocalyptic about”.

Mr Lewis told Sky News: “I was somewhat surprised to see that particular turn of phrase because obviously we can all see that prices can move… one way or another relatively speedily.

“But we will be doing what we can to put that support in there for people across the country.

“We do recognise there’s a challenge. This is not a straightforward challenge to deal with – it’s a global challenge but it is one that I know the chancellor is very very focused on.”

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