Ministers should ‘start doing stuff’ to help farmers and cut fuel costs, says Asda boss

Allan Leighton, executive chair of Asda, says farmers are under pressure from higher fertiliser, energy and fuel costs. Photograph: Asda

Asda’s executive chair has called on the government to “stand up and start doing stuff” to support farmers and ease the price of fuel as he warned that food prices would inevitably rise as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.

Allan Leighton said farmers were under pressure but the supermarket chain had so far received “a trickle of requests not an avalanche” of cost price increases from its suppliers, as they were under pressure from higher fertiliser, energy and fuel costs.