Veteran retail boss Stuart Rose has warned the Government of “unintended consequences” around encouraging supermarkets to impose price caps on food staples to cut the cost of living.
Asda chairman Lord Rose, who also ran Marks and Spencer and chaired Ocado, said “you can’t interfere in the markets” and warned of the “unintended consequences” of “relatively clumsy things”.
The Government is facing a backlash from retailers over its plans to encourage supermarkets to impose voluntary price caps on food staples to help with the cost of living.
Downing Street is understood to be drawing up proposals to advocate for charging the lowest possible amount for some basic products like bread and milk.
Speaking on a call to reporters, Mr Rose said: “My view on this is quite simple. I’ve been involved in retail for 50 years, and there’s been all sorts of schemes being followed by all sorts of governments over time about what they think we should be doing to control the market.
“You can’t interfere in the markets, the markets will control themselves. We are a very efficient industry, not just in Asda, across the retail piece. We have kept the price of electronics and clothing and food in real terms down to levels that are unprecedented in terms of our ability to be efficient.
“So, you know, I think we do a very, very good job for consumers, and if the Government wants to start doing – in inverted commas – ‘relatively clumsy things’, they need to be careful about the unintended consequences of what they want to do. Let the shopkeepers do what they do well: shop keep.”
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said the measures would not make a “jot of difference” to pricing and warned they could thwart efforts to cut inflation.
The opt-in scheme, modelled on a similar agreement in France, would allow supermarkets to select which items they would cap, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
It was ridiculed by opposition MPs on Sunday who compared the plans to pricing controls introduced by Conservative prime minister Edward Heath in the 1970s.
A No 10 source said the proposals are at “drawing board stage” but stressed they would only be implemented at retailers’ discretion.
The optional aspect of the scheme has led critics to question whether it will have any effect on costs, while right-wing think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) branded it a “pointless gimmick”.
It comes after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt backed interest rate hikes – even if they risk plunging the UK into recession – in order to combat soaring inflation.
Although down from 10.1% in March, the Consumer Prices Index of inflation remained stubbornly high at 8.7% in April, while food is still alarmingly expensive.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel