‘Nobody is in charge’: Tory peer hits out at ministers over inflation

Stuart Rose says: ‘We are sitting here now into the second, third, fourth month into this crisis and we’re still waiting to see what action will be taken.’ Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

The veteran retailer Stuart Rose has urged the government to do more to shield the poorest from double-digit inflation, describing the lack of action as “horrifying”, with a prime minister “on shore leave” leaving a situation where “nobody is in charge”.

Responding to July’s 10.1% headline rate, the Conservative peer and Asda chair said: “We have been very, very slow in recognising this train coming down the tunnel and it’s run quite a lot of people over and we now have to deal with the aftermath.”