Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
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Supermarkets: Voluntary Price Caps
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Lord Livermore (Lab)
As I said yesterday in response to similar questions, we want the most competitive supermarket sector we can possibly get, and it is not for the Government to tell supermarkets how to do their jobs.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, I asked the Minister yesterday about caps on food prices and he said then that that was not the role of the Government. Having said that, the suggested freeze is voluntary, as I understand it. Given that supermarkets— I think I might get booed here—squeeze producers of all kinds, farmers and their customers, making huge profits, should the Government not be a little bolder and actually think about the people for once?
Lord Livermore (Lab)
The end of the noble Baroness’s question is preposterous. This is not about price caps, as some speculation has suggested. As I said yesterday, we would never advocate for that, and I repeat that it is not for the Government to tell supermarkets how to do their jobs.