Costlier food pushes UK families to edge, charity says

Fast-rising prices for food and other essentials left around 4.7 million United Kingdom residents struggling to feed themselves and their families last month, said a major charity.

The Food Foundation said on Monday the 8.8 percent of UK adults who experienced food insecurity during January was 20 percent more than for the total six months earlier, when 3.9 million people had difficulty stocking their larders.

The foundation also said things will get worse in the coming months, as a once-in-a-generation "triple whammy" of hits to living standards plays out.

The Financial Times quoted Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation, as saying the "worse is still to come" because a big tax rise will hit home in April, alongside huge hikes in the cost of energy and fast-rising inflation that will devalue money in people's pockets.

"Too many households are living on the edge and will be pushed further into the stress and anxiety of not knowing if they can put food on the table," she said. "The government … has to start with the most basic of needs－making sure people can feed themselves in a manner which protects their health."

John Allan, chairman of the UK's biggest supermarket Tesco, used similar language to describe the unfolding situation when he told the BBC "the worst is yet to come".

He said supermarket prices could rise by as much as 5 percent in the coming weeks because of the rising cost of energy and supply chain issues.

"We are impacted by rising energy prices; our suppliers are impacted by rising energy prices," he told the broadcaster. "So, the likelihood is that inflation figure will rise."

A survey by the Food Foundation found that 62 percent of UK households had already noticed much more expensive energy bills and far costlier food, and 16 percent reportedly cut back on what they eat in order to pay for other essentials because they have too little money to do both.

Fall in living standards

The sharp fall in living standards pushed Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to unveil a 9 billion pound ($12.1 billion) financial support package last week aimed at struggling households.

But several charities said it was woefully short of what was needed.

Other observers noted that more government spending, and therefore borrowing, will create problems of its own.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday that surging inflation could add 34 billion pounds to the UK's interest payments on its national debt this year.

The paper said the Retail Price Index is expected to rise above 9 percent in the coming months as prices continue to skyrocket, pushing up inflation.

The UK's public sector net debt was more than 2.3 trillion pounds in December, which was about 96 percent of gross domestic product, and the largest it had been since the 1960s.

That debt was exacerbated by the nation borrowing more money during the year ending March 2021 than in any year since World War II because of challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.