Economist warns of food-price riots in Britain

A senior economist at HSBC has warned that Britain could experience riots if food prices continue to soar in line with the cost of crude oil. Karen Ward told Sky News that amid "very low" wage growth in the developed world, failing to compensate workers for recent rises in food and energy prices could provoke social unrest in the UK.
Energy markets - where prices are near their highest levels since 2008 as battles rage in oil-rich Libya - are "a significant contributor" to higher food prices, Ward told Sky Tuesday. Food price inflation has helped spark the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East that toppled longstanding rulers in Tunisia and Egypt. Last week, the United Nations said food costs are at their highest point since the agency began tracking them 20 years ago.