John Healey ready to 'clamp down' on supermarket price-gouging

John Healey has said he is ready to "clamp down" on supermarket and gas price-gouging.

The Chancellor said the Iran war had hit the pockets of British families as casualties rise and ships lay motionless in the Strait of Hormuz.

He said the conflict has threatened the economic security and finances of millions of Britons, admitting the Treasury could not "completely stop the squeeze" on families.

Writing in The Telegraph, he said: "At home, we will be watching closely for any suggestions that customers are being taken for a ride at the pump or the till.

"Companies' willingness to work with the Government throughout this crisis has been positive, and there has been no significant evidence of so-called price gouging, but I want to be blunt in reassuring the public that our regulators have the powers to clamp down on it if it happens."

Mr Healey said Labour, under Andy Burnham, would take a "different approach to business", giving it a clearer long-term direction, adding the Government would give businesses a "stronger voice".

Appealing to Britons ahead of his autumn budget - set for October 28 - he said he had confidence in Britain's resilience and grit.

On Friday, petrol prices hit their highest level since the start of the Iran war, with the Strait of Hormuz still slammed shut.

Unleaded climbed to 160p per liter, the most expensive since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to RAC.

The Chancellor and the Prime Minister will look to build in a £23.6billion buffer against the Government's fiscal rules, according to the Financial Times.

He pointed to a number of policies announced by the Government throughout its first two weeks as signs Labour would "give people hope".

These included removing VAT from electricity bills, capping bus fares and slashing business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues.

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But the Government has already began to look for creative ways to fund Mr Burnham's ambitious new polices.

On Friday, Mr Healey said he had written to Cabinet ministers to look for cuts in their budgets.

He urged his fellow Cabinet members to look at making "tough choices" and shift funds away from legacy programmes which "no longer reflect this administration's priorities".

"If we are serious about our new government's priorities, we must also be serious about reprioritisation," he wrote.

Earlier this year, then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves attempted to put pressure on supermarkets to cap food prices.

But supermarket bosses strongly rejected the proposals, leading her to drop the idea.

Stuart Machin, the chief executive of Marks and Spencer, slammed the idea as "completely preposterous".

And former boss of Sainsbury's, Justin King, said the policy was "pretty silly" and would create "all sorts of competition law issues".