An inquiry should be commissioned into whether supermarkets have been "profiteering" during the cost of living crisis, the Liberal Democrats have said. Party leader Sir Ed Davey is calling for the competition watchdog to start an investigation into whether food retailers put up the price of goods by more than was necessary to cover the cost of rocketing inflation.
It comes as food prices soared by 15.7% in April - the highest on record - according to the latest BRC-NielsenIQ shop price index. The Lib Dems highlighted Office of National Statistics (ONS) data, which was based on the CPI (Consumer Prices Index) measure of inflation, that suggested UK food inflation currently stands at 19.6%.
Analysis by the party suggests a typical weekly family food shop has increased by £12 as a result, leading to a higher annual bill of more than £600 for the average household. With prices going up, the Lib Dems said the big supermarket chains had made billions of pounds in profits over the past year.
