Baby formula prices a ‘catastrophe’ for families that ‘cannot be ignored’, MP says

Published

8 months ago

November 14, 2023

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The World Health Organisation’s call for government action over “exploitative” formula milk prices “cannot be ignored”, an MP has said.

Alison Thewliss, an SNP MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on infant feeding, told Sky News the WHO’s intervention must lead to government action on behalf of families.

The Glasgow Central MP raised the dangers of high formula prices in the House of Commons the day after Sky News interviewed the WHO from Geneva.

The WHO’s lead on infant feeding, Laurence Grummer-Strawn, said formula companies are “exploiting” families with high prices and pleaded with the government to take more action to support parents.

In the Commons, Ms Thewliss said the situation was “an absolute catastrophe for those who rely on infant formula but a bonanza for the formula companies who are making significant profits out of this”.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the Commons: “UK food inflation has been driven largely by global factors and has already fallen from 19.6% to 12.3% and external forecasts expect it to continue to fall.

“The Competition and Markets Authority undertook a review earlier this year of the groceries sector.

“They have not yet found evidence that food inflation is being driven by weak competition but they are continuing their review.”

Ms Thewliss said after: “The World Health Organisation’s call for action cannot be ignored.

“It is imperative that the UK government takes swift and decisive measures to address this issue and ensure that every child has access to affordable baby formula.

“The wellbeing of our youngest citizens should be a top priority, and we must not allow financial barriers to compromise their health and development.

“The response from the chancellor today was far from convincing. Rather than ducking from criticism and passing the concerns on to the CMA, it is high time that this UK government took action of their own to tackle this crisis.”

In May, Sky News revealed the desperate measures families across the UK were having to take including stealing formula milk, buying it on the black market and substituting it for alternatives such as condensed milk.

The infant nutrition charity Feed told Sky News they hoped the WHO’s intervention would be “the tipping point”.

Erin Williams, the director of Feed, said: “Feed are absolutely with the World Health Organisation on this one.

“We have had formula prices rise way beyond inflation and quite frankly we have had a very vague justification from the formula companies about rising costs.

“When we are in a scenario where parents are buying half-used tubs of infant formula on Facebook Marketplace to feed their babies then I think the feelings and the profits of the formula companies have to come quite low in the list of priorities.”

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Formula manufacturers have blamed increased production costs for the rise in prices but recent data shows that the cheapest brand has jumped by 45% in the past two years while other brands have risen on average 24%.

The Competition and Markets Authority has said the review into the groceries market, including baby formula, will be published this autumn.

Politics

IRS reveals final regulations for crypto broker rules

Published

3 hours ago

June 28, 2024

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IRS reveals final regulations for crypto broker rules

The Internal Revenue Service did not include decentralized exchanges or self-custodial wallets under its broker reporting requirements.

Politics

Reform canvasser in PM racism row says he was ‘a total fool’

Published

6 hours ago

June 28, 2024

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Reform canvasser in PM racism row says he was 'a total fool'

A Reform UK canvasser who used a racial slur against Rishi Sunak has called himself a “total fool” and said he has learned his lesson.

Footage from an undercover Channel 4 reporter showed Reform campaigner Andrew Parker using a discriminatory term about the prime minister, as well as saying the army should “just shoot” migrants crossing the Channel.

Election latest: Farage on defensive after supporters caught making racist, homophobic remarks

Police are now assessing the comments to establish if an offence has been committed, while Mr Sunak said the insult directed at him “hurts and it makes me angry”.

Mr Parker, who was canvassing in Clacton, where Reform leader Nigel Farage is standing, told Sky News the sting operation had “proper taught me a lesson”.

He said: “There’s lots of old people like me who are sick to death of this woke agenda… but on that particular day, I was set up and set up good and proper.

“It’s proper taught me a lesson – I was a total fool.”

Pressed on his use of the racial slur, he said he was an “old man” and “I still use old words”.

“There’s no racism at all in it. I am a decent guy to be honest”, he added.

In the Channel 4 report, Mr Parker can be heard using offensive language about the prime minister and also discussing migrants arriving in small boats in Deal, Kent

He said: “Army recruitment – get the young recruits there, with guns, on the f****** beach, target practice. F****** just shoot them.”

He also described Islam as a “disgusting cult”.

Mr Farage said he was “dismayed” by the “appalling” comments and has sought to distance himself from the campaigner, saying he was simply “someone who turned up to help” and “has nothing to do with the party”.

He has also used reports Mr Parker was a part-time actor to suggest the incriminating film was a “total set-up” – something Channel 4 has strongly denied.

Mr Parker himself says his volunteering for Reform was separate from his acting job – and claims he was “goaded” into making the comments.

A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “We strongly stand by our rigorous and duly impartial journalism which speaks for itself.

“We met Mr Parker for the first time at Reform UK party headquarters, where he was a Reform party canvasser.

“We did not pay the Reform UK canvasser or anyone else in this report. Mr Parker was not known to Channel 4 News and was filmed covertly via the undercover operation.”

The broadcaster’s investigation also caught another canvasser describing the Pride flag as “degenerate” and suggesting members of the LGBT community are paedophiles.

A spokesman for Essex Police said the force is “urgently assessing” the comments “to establish if there are any criminal offences”.

PM ‘hurt and angry’ over racial slur

Mr Sunak reacted furiously to the comments and said Mr Farage had “some questions to answer”.

He said: “My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing P***. It hurts and it makes me angry and I think he has some questions to answer.

“And I don’t repeat those words lightly. I do so deliberately because this is too important not to call out clearly for what it is.

“As prime minister, but more importantly as a father of two young girls, it’s my duty to call out this corrosive and divisive behaviour.”

Unrepentant Farage doubles down

However, Mr Farage was unrepentant when grilled on the row during a BBC Question Time leaders’ special, saying he was “not going to apologise” for the actions of people associated with his party.

Reform UK has faced a series of controversies relating to election candidates saying offensive or racist things.

Asked why his party “attracts racists and extremists”, the former UKIP leader claimed he had “done more to drive the far right out of British politics than anybody else alive” – claiming he took on the British Nationalist Party (BNP) a decade ago.

He also appeared to throw his predecessor Richard Tice under the bus when read racist and xenophobic comments made by Reform candidates, saying he “inherited a start up party” and has “no idea” why the people who said those things had been selected.