UK government to ask supermarkets to cap prices of basic food items as cost of essentials continues to rise
- The Telegraph newspaper reported that PM Rishi Sunak’s government is looking at plans to have retailers cap the prices of basic items such as bread and milk
- Britain has western Europe’s highest rate of inflation for food, with prices up more than 19 per cent over the past year, the worst such run since the 1970s
The British government is looking at plans to have retailers cap the prices of basic food items such as bread and milk, the Telegraph newspaper reported, as the cost of such essentials continued to rise in the double digits.
However, asked about such price controls, health minister Steve Barclay told BBC TV it was “not my understanding” on Sunday.
The PM’s office did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the report, which cited sources within the government.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents all the major supermarkets, blamed the government’s new regulation for many of the costs, and urged it in a statement to simplify rules “rather than recreating 1970s-style price controls.”
“This will not make a jot of difference to prices. High food prices are a direct result of the soaring cost of energy, transport, and labour, as well as higher prices paid to food manufacturers and farmers,” BRC’s Andrew Opie said.