Soaring Price of Food 'Leads to Riots'

The World Bank said this week that the price of staple foods has risen by 80 per cent in the past three years. For consumers in wealthy nations such as Britain soaring prices are squeezing household finances and keeping inflation up. But for developing nations they can lead to malnutrition and social disruption.

Food prices are being driven up by shortages of supply - often caused by bad weather - and by rising demand.

Mr Brown chaired the Progressive Governance Summit in Watford at the weekend and heard a string of warnings about the rising price of food.

António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told the summit the cost of food is leading to riots. He said: "The biggest problem today is rising food prices in democratic countries everywhere. This can trigger social unrest."

The summit drew together some of the world's most important Left-of-centre politicians, including former US president Bill Clinton.

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