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The chair of Asda and EG Group has criticised the government’s “clumsy” plan to introduce price caps on food staples.
On a call to reporters, Lord Rose, who is also the former boss of Marks and Spencer, told outlets that “you can’t interfere in the markets” and warned of the “unintended consequences” of “relatively clumsy things”.
He said: “My view on this is quite simple. I’ve been involved in retail for 50 years, and there’s been all sorts of schemes being followed by all sorts of governments over time about what they think we should be doing to control the market.
“You can’t interfere in the markets, the markets will control themselves. We are a very efficient industry, not just in Asda, across the retail piece. We have kept the price of electronics and clothing and food in real terms down to levels that are unprecedented in terms of our ability to be efficient.”
He added: “So, you know, I think we do a very, very good job for consumers, and if the Government wants to start doing – in inverted commas – ‘relatively clumsy things’, they need to be careful about the unintended consequences of what they want to do. Let the shopkeepers do what they do well: shop keep.”
Speaking to Sky, Lord Rose also said that the government owes supermarkets “a debt of gratitude”.
He told Sky’s Ian King Live programme: “Not just Asda but all retailers are very efficient – we are a very efficient industry. In real terms, the cost of food, the cost of clothing, the cost of electronics has come down over the last 20, 30, 40 years, largely due to the efficiency of retailers.
“Governments of any complexion owe us a debt of gratitude, and this recent speculation over the last couple of days about fixing prices is, frankly, rather backward looking.”
It comes as Rishi Sunak was reportedly considering plans to ask retailers to cap prices on basic foods in an effort to reduce food inflation.
After a sharp increase in the cost of living brought on by the war in Ukraine, Sunak has urged the Treasury to find measures to bring prices down.
Sunak’s plan is similar to the one in France, where retailers have pledged to freeze prices in a bid to create an “anti-inflation quarter”.
