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

Published

2 years 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

MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

Published

9 hours ago

July 3, 2025

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MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.

She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.

Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter

Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.

She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.

Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.

However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.

Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.

The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.

Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.

In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.

On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.

She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.

Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.

She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.

The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.

“We are not going to take this anymore.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.

“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”