SNP PLEDGE TO CAP FOOD PRICES IN TATTERS

JOHN SWINNEY'S “shameless” manifesto pledge to cap food prices was torn apart within minutes of it being announced yesterday.

- BY DAVID WALKER Scottish Politics Reporter

Experts expressed doubt that the Scottish Government has the powers to compel supermarkets to reduce the price of essentials such as eggs, milk and bread.

The IFS think-tank warned it could have the “unintended consequence” of creating food shortages, due to demand outstripping supply. Alternatively, retailers could deliberately restrict some items for sale in Scotland or reformulate products to cut production costs with a knock-on impact on quality.

David Phillips, head of devolved and local government finance at the IFS, said: "Depending on how this is implemented, it could be a radical but risky policy - or a paper tiger. It is also possible that the UK government would decide it is incompatible with the Internal Market Act." And opponents said the flagship policy was an attempt to "whip up the nationalist grievance machine" in anticipation of a new fight with Westminster.

The manifesto even contains an appeal to the UK Government not to use the powers within the Internal Market Act to block the scheme.

Should it go ahead, it would almost certainly lead to court action as well from unhappy supermarkets.

Speaking in Glasgow, the First Minister insisted that Holyrood has powers over public health and he plans to use them to put a price cap on certain items.

These "fair food prices" could cover "everyday items that make up a decent diet", he said, such as bread, milk, cheese, eggs, rice and chicken.

But Scottish law professor Scott Wortley said the Scotland Act makes it clear that the "sale and supply of goods and services to consumers is a reserved matter".

This means the UK Parliament, rather than the Scottish Parliament, holds authority over consumer protection laws covering terms of sale, hire-purchase, trade descriptions, and price indications.

Critics say the policy will almost certainly be blocked and dismissed it as a blatant attempt to provoke to more SNP grievances.