280. Should the government set food prices?
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What is the proposal to cap food prices in supermarkets?
Somehow the supermarkets would limit those prices in return for the government waiving certain restrictions. Having talked to the supermarket bosses, they almost all say this is completely and utterly barking mad.
Clear message to people, isn't it? The government is going to make your shopping bill not get any bigger. The reality is it probably would put it up.
Andy Burnham is the messiah. He's going to solve everything. And this has been a problem with water privatisations, why it should never have been privatised in the first place.
The process, this kind of essentially deregulation has cost £134 million. Will it reap the rewards that you want?
Why do supermarket bosses find the price cap idea ridiculous?
It's a sh** show, quite literally. Support for this episode comes from Octopus Energy and the founder and CEO, Greg Jackson, is with us now. And I want to ask about oil prices. Obviously, they're very high at the moment. What's your advice for a company worried about them?
First of all, if you use a lot of electricity, it may be possible to get electricity tariffs where you get charged less at certain times of day. And a lot of businesses have been able to benefit by shifting their electricity consumption. They still use as much energy. They just pay less for it. Of course, things like heating space can be very expensive, and finding ways to do that more efficiently by heating to maybe 18 degrees rather than 21 can make a very big difference.
How does inflation impact living standards in the UK?
But of course, look, the real solution is that Britain needs to escape from this dependence on the global fossil fuel price. And that means more electrification, disconnect our electricity price from the gas price, and ultimately get more of our electricity from British resources.
Nice one, Greg. Thanks for explaining that. Right, we're going to go to the episode.
Hello and welcome to The Rest Is Money with me, Steph McGovern.
And with me, Robert Peston.
So loads to talk about today. We want to bring you up to speed on Reeves' plan to cap food prices in the supermarkets. We've got the latest on inflation. What does this all mean for rates and mortgages? And what is going on with Andy Burnham and Manchesterism? You're going to explain it to us, aren't you, Robert? I'm going to try.
I mean, there's some very interesting ideas that are floating around about what a Burnham... if that comes to pass, would mean for how you manage the economy. So I'm going to look at one particular bit of it, which is when he talks about controlling energy, water, our most important public services, utilities. What does he actually mean by that? Are we talking about old-fashioned nationalisation and an enormous burden Bill, you know, billions and billions, well, hundreds, you know, potentially well over a hundred billion of taxpayers' money being used to buy these businesses, or are we talking about something else?
What is Andy Burnham's vision for Manchesterism?
So that's what I'm going to look at.
Okie doke. So should we start, first of all, with this plan then to try and cap prices in the supermarket? So this is a Reeves idea, isn't it? To try and control what is effectively the cost of living going up so much at the moment.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if you remember, but... We talked on this podcast when we saw the astonishing price shock from Putin's war in Ukraine about how other governments around the place were panicking putting the lid on the costs of essentials. And in particular, if you look at a country like France, there was a sort of deal with the supermarkets there to limit the prices or to cap the prices of some Because obviously, you know, when you have these price shocks, the impact, particularly on those on lower incomes, is really severe. And so one of the things that the government has been looking at, and just to be clear, you know, we are recording this before COVID. the Chancellor makes her announcement about what she's doing in terms of trying to help those on lowest incomes as a result of the price shock from Trump's Iran war.
But what is going on, I've talked to supermarket bosses about this, is this idea that somehow the supermarkets would volunteer
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the proposal to cap food prices in supermarkets?
0:01–0:38
2
Why do supermarket bosses find the price cap idea ridiculous?
0:38–1:21
3
How does inflation impact living standards in the UK?
1:21–2:54
4
What is Andy Burnham's vision for Manchesterism?
2:54–7:10
5
How does Manchesterism differ from traditional nationalization?
7:10–9:56
6
What challenges arise from controlling utilities like water and energy?
9:56–13:55
7
What are the implications of rising mortgage costs?
13:55–17:22
8
How can local governance impact public services and utilities?
17:22–33:39
Speakers
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