19 Jan 2021 A UK government minister rebuffed claims that pictures of empty supermarket shelves in some UK towns were down to Brexit, stating that Coronavirus lockdowns were the actual cause. Northern Ireland minister Brandon Lewis was touring broadcast studios Tuesday morning and was twice asked about the state of food supply in the nation. Asked about supermarket shelves in Ulster, one of the four home nations, Lewis told the BBC’s Today Programme that the phenominon had been seen accross the country, but was actually down to delivery delays caused by Coronavirus, and had “nothing to do with leaving the EU”.