The British Retail Consortium (BRC) warned that a new surtax for large shops could lead to price rises for consumers. A new survey by the BRC found that people’s biggest concern was “prices rising faster than wages”, with 57% of respondents agreeing – rising to 61% of working people. This was even higher for food inflation, which rose to 4.9%, the highest level since the cost-of-living crisis in 2022/23. Last week, the Bank of England held off from an interest rate cut amid fears that rising food prices were putting upwards pressure on headline inflation. However, the biggest risk to food prices would be to include large shops – including supermarkets – in the new surtax on large properties.