Rachel Reeves blamed as food prices soar in nightmare for shoppers

The price of the weekly shop has soared despite Rachel Reeves’s claims to be ending the cost of living crisis, retailers have warned. New inflation figures on Wednesday came as a huge blow to the Chancellor as they showed prices rose 3.6% over 12 months, far higher than the Government’s target rate of 2% and an increase from 3.4% in May.

But the real situation for families across the country is even worse, with the cost of food actually rising by 4.5% – with bread, rice and pasta going up the most. The alarm was sounded by the British Retail Consortium, which represents major supermarket chains and other high street stores. It said bad weather was partly to blame, but also warned that decisions taken by the Chancellor, including increasing National Insurance and the minimum wage, had pushed up costs.

Kris Hamer, director of insight at the British Retail Consortium, said: “While inflation has risen steadily over the last year, food inflation has seen a much more pronounced increase.

“Despite fierce competition between retailers, the ongoing impact of the last Budget and poor harvests caused by the extreme weather have resulted in prices for consumers rising."

The price of many staples rose on the previous month, including bread, rice and pasta. However, consumers in the market for chocolate benefited from a decrease. “With rising costs already driving up prices at the till, the Chancellor must take action now to protect consumers from inflation rising further,” said Mr Hamer.

But the Government could make things even worse by increasing business rates for many shops, he said.

“The proposed business rates reform would drive up costs for many high street stores, limiting investment and pushing up prices for everyone," he added. "If the Government wants to support households and high streets, they should ensure that no shop pays more as a result of these changes.”

British Retail Consortium members include Asda, Lidl, Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury's and many more.

Food inflation figures are higher because the official rate of inflation is a measure of how the price of a range of goods has risen. While the headline rate is 3.6%, the cost of clothing only rose by 0.5%, for example, while the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 4.5%.

The price of meat has soared, with beef and veal up 20.4% over 12 months. Lamb and goat are up by 10.2%.

The price of butter rose by 20% and the cost of whole milk was up 8.4%, although low-fat milk actually fell in price by 0.6% over 12 months.

On Wednesday, Ms Reeves said there was “more to do” to help bring inflation down.

She said: “I know working people are still struggling with the cost of living.”

“There is more to do and I’m determined we deliver on our Plan for Change to put more money into people’s pockets.”