The spectre of price controls is back to spook Sunak – and Thatcherite myths won’t save him | Rafael Behr

The prime minister is stubbornly attached to an outdated ideology, but has no plan for adapting to volatile times

Even if you don't call it price control" (and Downing Street would prefer that you don't), asking supermarkets to limit the cost of basic goods is an extraordinary thing for a Conservative government to contemplate.

It may not happen. If it does, it will be voluntary, say ministers - just a nudge to retailers, so they keep the cost of living down. Definitely not the sort of thing that was last attempted 50 years ago, under a weak Tory prime minister struggling to control inflation, while grappling with strikes and sliding towards election defeat. Nothing like that at all.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

Rafael Behr will discuss his new book, Politics: A Survivor's Guide, at a Guardian Live event on Monday 12 June. The event will be live in London and livestreamed. Book tickets here