Food Inflation

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I say a big thank you to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West) for setting the scene, and to the right hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen).

This is a very important debate, because so many families out there are struggling. I very much welcome the Government’s commitment to ending the two-child benefit cap. It will definitely make changes, but we cannot see those changes just yet. In Northern Ireland, annual food price inflation is 5.1%, and grocery spending has reached £4.4 billion.

The first Trussell Trust food bank in Northern Ireland was in Newtownards in my constituency, and food bank use last year was up 35%. We now see middle-class families, who have a wage but are unable to cope, using food banks. Overall consumer inflation in Northern Ireland has stayed around similar levels to that of the UK, which is about 4% to 5%. Recent research from Safefood indicates that food costs vary for many families. In some cases, it can be 50% of take-home pay for those with children.

I will give three examples in the short time I have. I know a family of two—a mother and daughter—who spend about £450 a month on groceries, including staple top-ups such as bread and milk. They made me aware that their rent is £600, so households are spending almost as much as their rent on groceries to eat well.

The second example is a family of five: two adults who work full time and three children aged from two to nine—wee tots, I would call them. They told me that they spend about £180 to £200 a week on groceries. Many may think that seems so much to be spending, but we often do not think of the breakfast before school, the break-time snack, lunch, dinner and endless litres of milk for children. Many working families are not eligible for free school meals, and parents want to ensure that their children have healthy, hearty meals. They have to get it right for their children from the very beginning. I would encourage children to drink their milk.

I want to briefly touch on the cost of baby formula, which has been increasing for numerous years. Certain formulas can range from £8 to £16 per standard tin, and that is not to mention the recent recall of SMA milk due to the potential presence of cereulide. Many families bulk-buy milk, and they will have to source it elsewhere in the meantime, before they can be compensated. They cannot do without milk for their children, so we have to address that increase in price. Almost £16 per standard tin is just too much.

The reality is that the announcements in the Chancellor’s Budget of benefit uplifts and the freezing of tax thresholds do not go far enough to support a huge proportion of the population. Rising grocery prices create challenges for everyone. I am increasingly seeing working families struggle from month to month while trying to do their best and hold down their full-time jobs. In all my time as an elected representative, I have never seen such pressure on working families across this United Kingdom. The pressure is huge. In this economy, most people are feeling the impact. It is a month-to-month struggle, and they are not able to save. The cost of living means those families are not able to get back on their feet.

So what do we do? We look to the Minister. She will have to forgive me for saying that she will have to dig deep into her pockets. Our constituents need more help. The cost of living is stretching household budgets to breaking point. I believe that this is the Government’s responsibility. To be fair to them, they are doing what they can to ensure that no household is left struggling to put food on the table. We should look forward to having a society in which everyone can meet their basic needs without worry. If we cannot do it today, we need to do it as soon as possible.