04 June 2023 , 18:31
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Jacked up, rocketing prices are the Greedflation of profit-hungry corporations no major national political party is brave enough to confront.
Trade union leaders led by Unite’s campaigning Sharon Graham and Left-wing Labour MPs call out supermarkets and food manufacturers using war and Covid as smokescreens to charge excessively more.
Yet cowed leaderships of the UK Conservatives and Labour, one in Government and the other hoping to be from next Autumn, are intimidated into submission by powerful companies so look the other way.
When the Tories dared float price caps on bread and milk before running away scared, Labour condemned a political rival rather than nicking a good idea and exposing excessive profits.
Unpopular oil and gas producers are considered fair game for a windfall tax and banks deservedly get regular kickings but not High Street retailers cashing in big time.
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Head of Unite Sharon Graham (Tim Merry)New figures from Unite researchers number crunching official financial reports found Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s 2022 operating profit margins were the highest in eight years at 4.6% and 3.5% respectively.
Tesco’s £859m and Sainsbury’s £319m in dividends to shareholders this year - the highest regular awards since 2015 - are funded in no small party by higher shipping bills.
Supermarkets legitimately complain suppliers also charge them more which embeds Greedflation across the economy.
Unite research a few months ago showed profit margins of the 350 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange were up 89% in the first half of 2022 compared with the same period in 2019.”
As far as I can recall a Rishi Sunak in the pocket of business and a Keir Starmer befriending business to distance himself from Jeremy Corbyn have both failed to denounce widespread Greedflation.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has called for an inquiry into supermarket profiteering, to his credit.
Tax rates set, interest rates influenced and other policies pursued and imposed by Governments influence our living standards.
But the silence on Greedflation in a cost of living crisis is telling.
We need politicians on our side, not leaders afraid to speak out.