They were the words of the Bank of England's governor on Thursday while warning over the risks posed to the UK economy by the surge in global energy costs.

It does not bode well for the nation's favourite food: chips.

But a leading figure in the potato industry has told Sky News we won't see the worst until next year.

Scott Walker, the chief executive of GB Potatoes, said the way the industry works means the impact of war-linked costs will be delayed, with "inevitable" increases in 2027.

He was speaking amid government warnings of more than eight months of rising prices once the conflict in the Middle East ends, while the fish and chip shop industry sees an immediate threat to its very existence.

Rising costs for energy, cooking oil and fish are already being reflected in portion sizes or prices, according to the National Federation of Fish Fryers, which fears an acceleration in this decade's trend of shop closures.

When it comes to the humble spud, the cost of the base potato product actually remains weak due to a continuing, Europe-wide glut, according to Mr Walker, though chip shop prices could rise to help account for the extra price pressures already facing fryers themselves.

Follow the latest on the Iran war

Mr Walker explained that the vast majority of UK potato producers work to annual growing contracts with their customers, which give both growers and the likes of wholesalers and supermarkets "insurance" – a certainty over incomes and prices ahead.

"At this moment in time, people shouldn't be paying any more," he said, in good news for buyers of the many raw potato varieties in the shops.

Fertiliser, for example, was already bought for the current growing year ahead of the outbreak of the war, but Mr Walker said the outlook was more bleak.

"Down the line prices will have to rise because we have a lot of costs coming," he warned.

While growers could attempt to claim "exceptional" costs from their customers in a bid to restore some health to margins this year, Mr Walker warned the 2027 contracts would have to reflect a doubling of red diesel and some fertiliser prices.

He also highlighted higher plastic packaging charges, along with raised tax and wage demands imposed by the government.

"The average price was about 65p (a litre) for red diesel last year," he explained.

"Farmers this year have been paying about 140p, but it has dipped back to around 120p."

Mr Walker warned that much would also depend on the weather in the months ahead, with a dry summer forcing farmers to irrigate more using diesel-powered generators.

"If diesel prices remain high, that's going to be a big extra cost," he warned, signalling that planting, irrigation, harvesting and distribution costs were all flashing red.

"Sadly, rising prices are inevitable... Everyone faces rising prices: the cost of collection, living wage, (the) price of electricity for wholesalers. There's a lot of cost in the system."

What about crisps?

Mike Russell Smith, who co-founded the Savoursmiths luxury crisp brand outside Cambridge in 2016 alongside his wife, grows his own potatoes and manufactures the product on site.

He echoed Mr Walker's sentiments over the surge in costs.

He explained that a "massive oversupply" across Europe last year, due to strong crop yields, had depressed prices, but the business, at the same time, was already grappling with a doubling of sunflower oil costs due to the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war.

He pointed to rising costs for labour, harvesting, production and cold storage.

"The softer price of the potato due to the surplus of supply is going to be significantly offset by considerably higher prices in terms of energy, gas, electricity and the sunflower oil we cook the potatoes in," he explained.

On the prospect of price increases for consumers, he added: "In 2027, we'll certainly have to review things in what is a very competitive industry. There comes a point where the costs just aren't swallowable anymore."

The industry 'plea'

Mr Walker argued it was in the gift of government to help ease the burden facing the industry.

He said: "Most of it is out of our hands. The plea to government...unfortunately is a lot of the rules and regulations are adding to the burden, and we call on the government to ease those regulations and help with electricity costs.

"Access to water is a key thing for growing potatoes, so we keep asking for regulation to allow farmers to store water to secure food security."

A government spokesperson said in response: "We are taking the effects of the Iran war very seriously and are actively monitoring the potential impact of the conflict on the food and farming sector.

"The UK has a resilient food system, and at present we do not expect any impact on availability. We are continuing to meet with stakeholders, including farmers' unions, to share information on rising fuel and oil prices."

Speaking to Sky's Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Harriet Harman said it makes ministers "feel very demotivated and anxious", and it "undermines morale and perception".

The criticism of Number 10's media handling comes after our political editor Beth Rigby revealed that Sir Keir Starmer's inner team is split over whether a reshuffle should take place after the elections on 7 May.

She was told by senior government sources that the prime minister's acting chief of staff Vidhya Alakeson and key cabinet figure Darren Jones, secretary to the prime minister, are advising Sir Keir to pause on a reshuffle.

On the other side, political director Amy Richards and chief whip Johnny Reynolds are pushing for one.

Downing Street did not shut down reports this week that changes to the prime minister's top team could be incoming, simply telling journalists that they do not comment on "speculation".

Baroness Harman criticised that, telling the Electoral Dysfunction podcast: "I just feel a bit dispirited because I feel it's unwise for Number 10 to have put into the public domain the idea that if there's a bad election result on 7 May, the solution is going to be a reshuffle.

"Firstly, because if he [Starmer] decides that he doesn't want to do a reshuffle after 7 May, because of all the speculation that has been running that there's going to be one, it will look as if he hasn't done a reshuffle because he wanted to, but he's just not strong enough."

Reshuffle talk also "makes secretaries of state and ministers feel insecure", pointing to reporting that the technology secretary, Liz Kendall, could be among those to go.

"She's going to feel very demotivated and anxious," said Baroness Harman.

"But also her diary secretary's going to think, 'why should I bust a gut to get all these appointments in her diary for the second half of May or June? Because she's probably not going to be in her job.'"

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'It undermines morale'

She went on to explain that outside organisations planning meetings or conferences with Ms Kendall, or other ministers facing the chop, could "hold fire" because someone else might be in the job.

Baroness Harman added: "It's unwise, even if they were planning to do a reshuffle and were absolutely certain on it, but it's even more unwise if it's actually not yet decided.

"So this is another handling issue – it undermines morale and perception."

Starmer in 'precarious position'

Beth Rigby explained on the podcast how she learnt on Wednesday of the discussions in Downing Street about a potential cabinet reshuffle.

The split in the prime minister's team, she said, "tells you a lot" about his position.

It's a "high stakes" moment for the government, Rigby said, adding: "The fact we've been talking about this is a reflection of the precarious predicament… the prime minister is in."

MPs from a key Commons committee declared they had no confidence in South East Water's (SEW) leadership to turn the company around after a litany of failures.

SEW on Friday announced the resignation of independent non-executive chairman Chris Train, effective immediately.

The company was described as "devoid of proper leadership" and "riddled with cultural problems" in a new report from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee.

It criticised SEW's chief executive David Hinton, and called for a reset of the company's attitudes - and argued "change at this scale requires SEW's leadership to change".

Bosses were questioned twice by the committee over their response to multiple supply interruptions across Kent and Sussex.

Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland and chair of the cross-party committee, said: "Someone in this company needs to take a grip, be accountable for its failings and put them right."

SEW said board discussions had taken place in recent weeks regarding the company's recovery and transformation plan.

It said: "As part of this, the board and Chris considered the leadership of South East Water and mutually agreed that new independent board leadership is now required to oversee a critical period of positive, transformative change for the company, its customers, and local communities."

Following the announcement of Mr Train's departure, Lisa Clement, interim independent non-executive chair, said: "The board thanks Chris for his service to South East Water.

"The company's focus remains on delivering engineering and operational changes that will strengthen the resilience of South East Water's network and transform the company for the benefit of customers and local communities."

The rebuke from MPs followed a major water outage in late 2025, which left tens of thousands of customers in Tunbridge Wells without drinking water for two weeks.

Ofwat, the water regulator in England and Wales, has been consulting on issuing a fine of up to 8% of SEW's annual turnover (£22.46m) due to significant supply failures and poor customer service between 2020 and 2023.

The committee of MPs also called on shareholders in SEW – Utilities Trust of Australia, NatWest Group Pension Fund and Desjardins Group and associated holding companies – to hold the company to account.

Failure to carry out routine cleaning and water tests

A lack of water jar testing – to ensure water quality – by SEW at its Pembury Treatment Works, where various failures led to the two-week outage in Tunbridge Wells, was highlighted in the report.

Despite having been advised by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) to carry out the tests, it failed to do so.

This meant the water company was "flying blind" at the time of last year's water outage.

Alongside this, the DWI said routine maintenance and cleaning were not undertaken at Pembury before the Tunbridge Wells incident.

The committee argued that insufficient resourcing and plans to tackle these problems have been implemented since 2019, despite being costed in many cases.

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The report was most scathing in its assessment of SEW's leadership team, saying they had a "clear pattern" of blaming factors outside of their control "despite clear evidence to the contrary".

"There is also a clear culture of obfuscating responsibility that is seriously inhibiting their ability to analyse problems and learn lessons," it added.

SEW said in a statement: "The board and executive team reiterate their unreserved apology to those customers impacted by recent operational failures, and the resulting loss of public trust in the company and its services."

The company said it planned to double investment in the water supply network serving Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire over the next five years.

Temperatures could reach 27C (80.6F) in London and East Anglia on Friday, the Met Office said, making it the warmest day of the year so far and hotter than Honolulu, Hawaii's capital, where highs of 26C are forecast.

Friday's highs will be around 10C (50F) higher than the average for this time of year, which is between 15C (59F) and 17C (62.6F), the Met Office said.

Cardiff, meanwhile, could be warmer than Athens, with forecasters predicting temperatures could reach 19C (66.2F) in the Welsh capital.

Find out the forecast for your area

However, the warm weather falls short of the record UK high in April, which was 29.4C (84.9F) recorded in central London in 1949.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge told the Press Association: "We've got some very warm, humid air coming up from the south.

"That means we will see some very warm weather, particularly in the east and the South East, because there we'll see the best of the sunshine."

However, Mr Partridge warned that it "doesn't mean everybody's going to get a warm, dry, beautiful day".

The central spine of the UK – in parts of Scotland, the Pennines and the Midlands – could see some heavy rain and thunder.

The Met Office also warned the weather over the bank holiday weekend will be "a different story", with bright spells and showers expected on Saturday and rain forecast for most of the country on Sunday.

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Mr Partridge said: "By the time we get to Monday, we're actually going to see temperatures roughly where they should be for this time of year.

He said temperatures would likely be around 11C (51.8F) to 12C (53.6F) in the north, with the south expected to experience temperatures of up to 16C (60.8F).

"So it will feel quite fresh and chilly compared to what we've had," Mr Partridge added.

Charles will stay in the British overseas territory until Saturday after arriving at LF Wade International Airport on Thursday evening.

He was greeted by Governor of Bermuda Andrew Murdoch and David Burt, the premier of Bermuda, with a small guard of honour formed by the Royal Bermuda Regiment.

On Friday, the King will receive a ceremonial welcome featuring a 21-gun salute, and during his visit, he will also spend time with Commonwealth athletes and officially open the Great Bay Coast Guard Station on the island of St David's.

It is Charles's first visit to a British overseas territory as monarch and the first ever visit by a reigning king to Bermuda.

Royals 'leave a piece of our heart' in US

The King was waved off from Joint Base Andrews in Washington by Donald Trump to round off his four-day visit to the US to mark the 250th anniversary of the country's independence.

The Queen, who joined her husband on the trip, will remain in the US for the time being.

Best pictures from royal state visit

During their time across the Atlantic, the couple attended a state dinner, paid tribute at the 9/11 Memorial in New York, and the King gave an address to the US Congress – becoming only the second monarch to do so.

At the end of the trip, Mr Trump hailed Charles as the "greatest King in my book", while in a social media post, the King and Queen said: "We leave a piece of our heart behind and take a little of yours back home with us."

The US president also announced he would remove tariffs on Scottish whisky "in honour" of the King and Queen, insisting the royals had "got me to do something that nobody else was able to do".

Mr Trump added that the lifting of restrictions would help Scotland's "very important" whisky and bourbon business with the US state of Kentucky.

In response to the gesture, Buckingham Palace said Charles would be "raising a dram".

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'I can't give you an answer'

Much of the focus on the King and Queen's state visit had been the extent to which it could improve UK-US relations that have been frayed since the start of the Iran war.

However, a short time after the King departed, Mr Trump cast doubt on whether the trip had had the desired healing effect.

"I can't give you an answer to that," he told Sky News in a phone call.

The US president then continued his criticism of Sir Keir Starmer, claiming he had made "a tragic mistake" on immigration and energy policies, before suggesting the prime minister should follow the "fantastic" monarch's example.

Mr Trump added: "Your prime minister has to learn to deal the way he deals, and he'll do a lot better."