Retail body warns against tax hikes amid ‘nightmare’ inflationFood inflation remained elevated in SeptemberBritain’s largest retail business group has warned the Treasury that further tax hikes on businesses will keep shop prices “higher for longer”, after data showed food inflation in September remained at its highest levels since the cost-of-living crisis kicked off. British Retail Consortium (BRC) chief executive Helen Dickinson said even if the Chancellor chooses to target businesses with another round of tax hikes at the upcoming Budget, it will be “British households who will bear the consequences… of the Chancellor’s decisions”. “While retailers continue to absorb higher costs as much as possible and deliver value to customers, any further tax rises in the upcoming Budget would keep shop prices higher for longer,” she added. Dickinson unleashed the warning alongside the BRC’s monthly shop price monitor, which found annual food inflation stayed at an elevated 4.2 per cent in September. This carried overall shop inflation up to 1.4 per cent year on year.