High cost of food is hitting people the hardest, says john glen

Recently we received the welcome news that inflation has fallen back to single digits. That will start to ease the pressures on families and businesses who have become sick of ever-rising

prices pushing up the cost of everything, from the weekly shop to a family day out. While the clouds are beginning to lift, we are under no illusions about how tough things still are. And

there is one source of pain hitting harder than most – the stubbornly high cost of food. Food prices have soared by over a fifth recently in countries such as Germany, Sweden and Portugal,

too, but we absolutely have a duty to support people at home who are feeling this most. READ MORE: FOOD ESSENTIALS 'MUST BE PRICE CAPPED' SAY THREE QUARTERS OF UK SHOPPERS That’s

why we’re providing one of Europe’s largest support packages to UK families, worth £3,300 per household on average over this year and last – £94billion in total. We uprated benefits and the

state pension in line with inflation, and the earnings of millions of the lowest-paid workers have also risen, through the largest-ever cash increase to the national minimum wage. We have

also taxed the windfall profits of energy firms to help with household energy bills. The Chancellor and I have met with food producers and retailers to discuss the cost of food and we have

been working with the competition watchdog. There are some measures that would be counter-productive, such as imposing price caps and risking supply shortages. We want fully-stocked shelves,

stable pricing and more money to help people with the cost of living. _*JOHN GLEN IS CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY_