Buy one get one free (BOGOF) deals are facing being axed by the government as PM Rishi Sunak receives pressure from government backbenchers over extending the current legislation.
Sunak told the House of Commons yesterday that “no final decision” had been taken over whether the ban would come in as planned later this year.
According to a report from The Grocer, the proposals had already been delayed until October, as pressure has been growing from rightwingers who claim the policy is a “nanny state”.
The government previously delayed the introduction planned for last October but went ahead with a ban on HFSS promotions in prominent store locations. Meanwhile, supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco have already stopped bogof deals.
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“After I took office, given the concerns he and others had raised about the impact on the cost of living, we already have, as he knows, postponed the introduction of this policy,” Sunak said in the House of Commons yesterday.
“No final decisions have been made, but I will continue to take what he says very seriously in all our deliberations.”
Head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economics Affairs, Christopher Snowdon told The Grocer: “The government’s own impact assessment predicts banning these deals will reduce calorie consumption by the equivalent of one grape a day.
“When Public Health England looked at it in 2015, they concluded it could cost households £634 a year and that consumers use these offers as a ‘coping mechanism’ during periods of high inflation,” Snowdon said.
“Repealing this policy at a time when food inflation is at nearly 20% has to be the biggest no-brainer in British politics today.”
It comes as supermarkets warn that new government regulations are hiking up costs for British retailers.
1 Comment. Leave new
I haven’t seen a BOGOF in my local Yate Tesco for a long time.I thought the ban was already in operation.