Tory peer calls for welfare boost to counter cost of living crisis

Asda chairman Stuart Rose says universal credit uplift and honesty over Brexit are crucial to combat national economic emergency'

One of Britain's most prominent retailers has called for a major welfare boost for the poorest as pressure grows on chancellor Rishi Sunak to act on the cost of living crisis.

Stuart Rose, the chairman of Asda and Conservative peer, effectively backed reinstating a 20-a-week uplift in universal credit introduced at the start of the Covid pandemic to help those on low incomes. He said some were seeing shocking" increases in their bills and warned that the pressures were likely to persist into 2024.