U.K. ministers split over proposal to cut some food tariffs

U.K. ministers are split over proposals to slash some food tariffs in a bid to ease the country’s cost of living crisis, a person familiar with the matter said.

Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg is pushing the plan, which would see the U.K. slash import tariffs on products it doesn’t cultivate domestically, such as rice, according to the person, who spoke anonymously about internal government discussions. 

It’s also backed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but opposed by the Department for International Trade, which argues the U.K. would lose leverage in trade negotiations, according to the person. The cabinet split was reported earlier by the Financial Times, which said Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is open to the plan, even though it could cost a figure in the low hundreds of millions of pounds in lost revenues.

The soaring cost of living has risen to the top of the domestic political agenda as inflation at a three-decade high increasingly puts the squeeze on household budgets. It’s an issue that threatens to weigh on Johnson’s Conservative Party at local elections on May 5, with Labour ahead in the opinion polls.

Sunak has been accused by political opponents and consumer groups of failing to do enough to protect the poorest Britons from rising energy costs in particular, and Johnson on Tuesday urged his ministers to go further to help people struggling to pay their bills. According to his office, the premier told his cabinet to find “innovative ways” of easing the burden, but without “solely relying” on new public funding.