Supermarkets: Voluntary Price Caps

Lord Fox Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his questions. I agree with his last point, if not all of what he said. I understand exactly what he set out, which is why we are not doing what he suggests we are doing. We are of course having discussions with supermarkets—that is the right thing to do—as we have with all sectors. The Chancellor has held round tables with fuel retailers, supermarkets and high street banks, among other industries. It is right that we discuss ways we can work together to ease the cost of living for households. This is not about price caps, as some speculation has suggested. We will never advocate for that, as it is not for the Government to tell supermarkets how to do their jobs. We are taking action across the board, with rail fare freezes, prescription fee freezes and £150 off energy bills. These are the driving factors behind today’s bigger than expected fall in inflation. Further, today, the Chancellor extended the 5p cut on fuel duty and introduced further new fuel duty support for HGVs and farmers.

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, I am pleased to hear that the Government are talking to supermarkets about the role they might have in prices, because prices are an important worry for people right across the country—they really are going up. In the course of those discussions, did the Government talk about their role in bringing down prices and with supermarkets? The input costs that supermarkets face have gone up dramatically; some of those things a Government cannot control, but some of those things they can. They can control employer contributions for NICs and the level of business rates—so ask not what the supermarkets can do for you but what you can do for the supermarkets to bring down the cost.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

There is definitely something in what the noble Lord says, although I am not sure that I quite agree with where his question ended up. He is right to say that families are struggling with the cost of living, and they will be worried about the prospect of food prices rising again following the conflict in the Middle East. That is why, in April, major food and farming trade bodies came together with the Government to share intelligence, assess emerging pressures and agree on how we can keep our food sector resilient and stable. As I say, the Chancellor held a round table with supermarkets to discuss the role that retailers can play in bearing down on food prices, and, as the noble Lord asked, additional steps that the Government can take.