![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3_Woman-choosing-fresh-citrus-fruits-in-a-supermarket-picking-oranges-from-shelves-with-shopping-car.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nRachel Reeves will unveil plans for a cost of living blitz, including a bid to drive down the cost of the weekly shop by slashing tariffs until 2028 on more than 100 items<\/p>\n
22:30, 20 May 2026Updated 22:32, 20 May 2026<\/p>\n
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Shoppers could see tariffs stripped from staple products(Image: Viktoriya Dikareva via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Shoppers could save on food staples like baked beans, crisps and margarine under Government plans to shield Brits from rising prices triggered by the Iran war<\/p>\n
Chancellor Rachel Reeves<\/a> will unveil plans for a cost of living blitz on Thursday, including a bid to drive down the cost of the weekly shop by slashing tariffs until 2028 on more than 100 items, including tomato ketchup, marmalade and biscuits.<\/p>\n Tariffs are imposed by the Government on imported goods, with the cost normally passed on to consumers. Potential price reductions would depend on businesses passing the saving on to shoppers.<\/p>\n In a statement to Parliament, Ms Reeves is also expected to unveil a string of money-saving measures, including fare-free travel for school children in England in August.<\/p>\n Drivers were given a boost as fuel duty was frozen until the end of the year, as the Chancellor ditched plans to hike the levy in September.<\/p>\n She has been under intense pressure to abandon plans as prices rise at the pumps in the wake of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas.<\/p>\n OPINION<\/p>\n Rachel Reeves has scrapped plans for a fuel duty hike in the autumn(Image: Jacob King\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n Hauliers will also be given a 12-month road tax holiday to help keep shelves stocked and food prices down. It means they will pay \u00a31 at renewal, saving \u00a3600 for a typical heavy lorry and \u00a3912 for the biggest vehicles.<\/p>\n The Chancellor said: \u201cMy number one priority is protecting households from rising costs. This summer I want every family to be able to enjoy themselves, that\u2019s why we\u2019re launching the Great British Summer Savings Scheme, and why we\u2019re helping kids with free bus travel throughout August.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the war in Iran pushes prices up at home, my economic plan is the right one. I will continue to make the right choices, to protect households and businesses, and build a stronger and more secure Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n Keir Starmer said he would “tear down the status quo” to stop working people being clobbered by global crises. Writing in the Mirror<\/a>, he said: “I know what Mirror readers expect: a government on their side, taking decisions to ease pressures now, and building an economy that works in their interests for the future.<\/p>\n “Because at the end of the day, times like this are a test. Throughout the years of crisis the Tories always made working people pay. In contrast, this Government will always stand by them. And we will build a stronger, fairer Britain in their interests.”<\/p>\n Keir Starmer has said he will not make working people pay like the Tories(Image: Tayfun Salci\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n The package comes as cost of living pressures mount at home as the global turmoil triggered by Donald Trump’s war with Iran threatens to derail the Government’s economic plans.<\/p>\n Inflation fell to 2.8% in April, down from 3.3% in March – the lowest level since March 2025. But the dip in price rises – largely driven by the energy price cap being lowered – is expected to be short-lived as the fallout from the Middle East conflict spreads.<\/p>\n Emergency planning is underway ahead of the winter when energy bills<\/a> are expected to soar. Families have so far been protected from energy bill spikes by the price cap – but the level is predicted to rise by \u00a3209 to \u00a31,850 a year from July for a typical household. Ministers are braced for costs to rise further when the cap is reviewed in September.<\/p>\n The Chancellor is expected to target energy bill support to low-income households but she will wait until September before finalising the scale of the package.<\/p>\n She has already signalled that she won’t deliver a Liz Truss-style universal bailout, as the Tories did in 2022 after the Ukraine<\/a> war sent bills spiralling. Ministers fear unfunded giveaways could push up borrowing costs and inflation, leading to higher mortgage rates.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Ms Reeves hit back at heckler who shouted at her as she was being interviewed at a petrol station in Leeds. The man, who was driving a truck with two St George\u2019s flags on the roof, shouted \u201cNigel Farage<\/a>, go on Nigel\u201d, before telling her: \u201cYou\u2019re ruining the country. Get Keir Starmer<\/a> out.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: “We\u2019ve got English flags on here, Rachel, am I going to get arrested? Look at Rachel Reeves there, with a smile on her face.\u201d<\/p>\n But Ms Reeves told him: \u201cI love our country. I love our country, and one of the things about our country is good manners. Not very British.\u201d She quipped: “He didn’t hear the news about fuel duty.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves will unveil plans for a cost of living blitz, including a bid to drive down the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,229,69,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-595454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-rachel-reeves-mp","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Starmer-Departs-Downing-Street-For-PMQs-London-England-United-Kingdom-20-May-2026.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Author](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2_BRITAIN-CZECH-POLITICS.jpg\")
Keir StarmerREAD MORE: Keir Starmer delays 5p fuel duty increase to help families with cost of living<\/a>![\"Rachel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Planned-fuel-duty-rise-axed.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Keir](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Keir-Starmer-Leaves-10-Downing-Street-For-PMQS-London-England-United-Kingdom-20-May-2026.jpg\")
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