John Lewis chief says UK needs pandemic-style cost-of-living support package

Dame Sharon, a former second permanent secretary at the Treasury, said the government “needed to act urgently because families were struggling to pay utility and food costs” as energy bills and inflation soared.Speaking on ITV’s Peston show this week, she added: “The time has absolutely come for action whether it is an emergency budget or whether it is another vehicle.”

The chair of John Lewis Partnership, which also owns the Waitrose supermarket chain, said action needed to be taken before summer, with consumers facing another increase in energy bills of as much as £1,000 annually from October.She said: “The decisive action we saw, I thought the government did incredibly well at the pace and scale during Covid, I think we need to see the same decisive action…