Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his oral contribution of 20 June 2023, Official Report, column 694, what the evidential basis is for not accepting the findings of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.

Recent food inflation in the UK has been driven by a range of factors. Domestic agricultural commodity prices increased due to increases in international commodity prices and changes in exchange rates and in particular the strength of the dollar. Alongside this there was an increase in food manufacturing costs and particularly energy costs, which also contributed to food inflation. These factors are the main reasons for recent high food inflation, as shown by the fact that other countries in Europe have experienced similar levels of food inflation.