LONDON: Britain's retail sector called on the government to ​help with ⁠soaring costs as a result ‌of the Iran war on Wednesday, warning that without ​support it will be harder to keep a ​lid on rising ​prices for consumers.

The British Retail Consortium trade body said the conflict was ⁠pushing up energy, production, shipping and distribution costs, compounding existing pressures from higher employer taxes, rising wages and new packaging ​levies.

 

* The ‌BRC also ⁠flagged further ⁠regulatory burdens, including guaranteed hours provisions under new ​employment law and the proposed ‌reformulation of thousands of ⁠food lines.

* It wants the UK government to follow Germany and reduce electricity costs for businesses by moving levies off bills.

* It also wants the government to delay the proposed food reformulation and review packaging levies.

* The BRC ‌said polling by Opinium it commissioned ⁠showed four in five people fear ​the Iran war will push up food prices.

* Last month supermarket group ​Sainsbury's called for ‌government support for the food ⁠sector. (Reporting by James ​Davey; Editing by Alexander Smith)