The big retailers’ business model has made food shortages more likely in the event of a no-deal Brexit

“The shops will be empty” and “the lights will go out” are the staple warnings of commercial interests that have an axe to grind or are looking for public support. But the letter this week from store bosses sounding an alert about the impact of a no-deal Brexithas added irony when delivered by some of Britain’s biggest supermarket retailers, whose centralised business model has done much to hollow out the economy, making it so vulnerable in the first place.

Related: No-deal Brexit would mean shortages and price rises, say retailers