Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to regulate online retail prices to prevent price gouging.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State met with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), business, trade and consumer organisations on Thursday 9 April to review the prevalence and impact of profiteering.

The CMA has written to firms suspected of profiteering to challenge unjustifiable price increases. The CMA stand ready to take enforcement action where there is evidence that competition or consumer protection law has been broken.

The Government continues to monitor profiteering and is keeping all options under review.