John Lewis boss calls for Covid-style cost of living aid package

‘The time has absolutely come for action, whether it is an emergency budget or whether it is another vehicle,” White said on ITV’s Peston show. Photograph: Jonathan Hordle/Rex/Shutterstock

The boss of John Lewis has urged the government to intervene with a financial package of support to protect families from the cost of living crisis on the same scale as it did to help the UK deal with the Covid pandemic.

Dame Sharon White, a former second permanent secretary at the Treasury, said the government needed to act urgently because families were struggling to pay utility and food costs as energy bills and inflation soared.