Councillor says UK should consider rationing if Middle East war continues

Nicholas Thomas – Local democracy reporter

The UK should consider making plans for World War II-style rationing of resources in the event of “protracted” hostilities in the Middle East, a councillor has claimed.

Cllr Sean Morgan, Caerphilly Council’s sole Green Party representative, said the UK Government should prepare “a fair way to allocate scarce resources” if the conflict continues “into many months”.

Speaking at a council meeting on Tuesday April 7 – hours before the USA and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire – Cllr Morgan warned such resources were already “becoming more scarce”.

He told councillors “market forces alone cannot be allowed to be the mechanism by which essential resources are allocated within the country”.

“Market forces are wholly incapable of allocating fairly – the rich will flourish and poor people will go hungry,” said Cllr Morgan.

“So will the leader of council please urge the government to create and communicate to the public a fair allocation policy, such as rationing – as was undertaken in World War II – to alleviate the concerns of the impacts of the war, should it become more protracted and more impactful on our struggling communities?”

Cllr Jamie Pritchard, who took the job of council leader last autumn after Cllr Morgan quit the role, agreed times were “very challenging”.

But he said the council had entered a pre-election period ahead of Senedd polling day on May 7, which would curtail his ability to respond fully.

“We are in the middle of a pre-election period, and this does place significant restrictions on my ability to respond to you fully, as it would be impossible for me not to stray into political waters,” he said.

Cllr Pritchard instead suggested the matter should be debated as a notice of motion when the council convenes again after the Senedd elections.