The chairman of major British supermarket Tesco, John Allan, said that many in the country are struggling with the increasing costs of food and fuel due to inflation, as quoted by The Times on Tuesday,
“I was in some [Tesco] stores on Friday and I was hearing for the first time for many years of customers saying to checkout staff ‘Stop when you get to £40, I don’t want to spend a penny over that’,” Allan said.
“I think that many of them are struggling to both be able to heat their homes and to feed their families,” he continued. “And I think we’re seeing, you know, real food poverty for the first time in a generation.”
The Tesco boss expressed hopes that the government would step in to reduce the strain on those struggling to make ends meet. Allan suggested that the government could reverse course on a planned payroll tax hike. He also called for reforming rates relief, saying that many smaller shops faced going out of business as consumers cut back on spending.
This month, the Bank of England issued a dire warning, saying that Britons would suffer a “historic” shock to their incomes as it expects the record-high inflation to continue rising. The central bank also said that the cost-of-living crisis could plunge the economy into recession this year.
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