Chancellor John Healey has said he will be “watching closely” to protect the public from price gouging at the petrol pump and in supermarkets as the war in Iran continues to hit prices.
Mr Healey conceded that “we can’t completely stop the squeeze” on families and businesses, amid prime minister Andy Burnham’s efforts to show he will focus on tackling the cost of living since taking office two weeks ago.
But he signalled he would be ready to intervene to protect consumers from unfair price rises at home.
“We’ll 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 wrote in The Telegraph.
The former defence secretary said he had spoken to international counterparts in his first days as chancellor about their joint economic response to the ongoing war in Iran.
Mr Healey said: “Being frank, we can’t completely stop the squeeze that families and businesses will feel with a global shock of this scale.”
“What we can do is be an active, hands-on Government that puts British interests first – giving breathing space to those feeling financial strain and making our country more resilient so we can better weather these shocks in the future.”
The start of Mr Burnham’s premiership has seen him announce a succession of measures aimed at alleviating cost-of-living pressures, such as a cut in VAT on energy bills and capping bus fares at £2 throughout 2027.
The prime minister reiterated on Sunday that he would like to take further action to bring down utility bills and rail fares.
“I think rail fares are too high, outrageously so in some instances. So that’s something that’s in my sights.
“I mentioned VAT and electricity bills. It’s a short-term measure at this moment, but let’s see where we can go with that,” he told the Sunday Mirror.
The raft of measures Mr Burnham has unveiled, including cutting business rates for pubs and an expansion of technical training in schools, are likely to require additional spending.
Mr Healey promised that his first budget would be “built on fiscal discipline” as he revealed this week that it would take place on October 28.
He and the Prime Minister have written to the Cabinet to make clear there is no new money coming for the fresh pledges, he told The Times.
Departments need to be ready to “shift funding away from unproductive or legacy programmes that no longer reflect this administration’s priorities”, he wrote in the letter.