The bosses of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains have warned that food prices could rise again if Chancellor Rachel Reeves increases taxes on the retail sector in her forthcoming Budget.
In a joint letter to the Treasury, executives from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Waitrose, M&S and Iceland cautioned that households would “inevitably feel the impact” of any increase in business rates or other levies on the industry.
“Given the costs currently falling on the industry, including from the last Budget, high food inflation is likely to persist into 2026,” the letter stated. “This is not something that we would want to see prolonged by any measure in the Budget.”
The supermarkets’ intervention comes amid speculation that Reeves will unveil new tax measures to plug a £22 billion shortfall in the public finances, following the Office for Budget Responsibility’s downgrade of growth forecasts.
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