All set for a supermarket price war as Morrisons slashes costs

MORRISONS has triggered another supermarket price war by slashing the cost of more than 1,000 products such as tea, baked beans and mince.

The grocer, which has 11m weekly shoppers, becomes the first supermarket to cut prices since the EU referendum in June. It said prices would be reduced by an average of 18pc and as much as 56pc on some items. A pack of 75 Tetley extra strong tea bags will be cut from £2.57 to £2, and 20 Birds Eye fish fingers will be reduced from £3 to £2.

One expert said ‘war has been declared’ and predicted other supermarkets will be forced to follow suit, pushing down grocery bills for families.

This would confound warnings from former Prime Minister David Cameron that a Brexit vote would push up the cost of a weekly shop. The Big Four of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have already committed hundreds of millions of pounds to lowering prices to try to stop falling sales and the rise of Aldi and Lidl. Remain campaigners – including supermarket bosses –warned a vote for Brexit would cause the cost of food and drink to spiral.

A Treasury report published before the referendum estimated that the average family shop would cost 3pc more per year, equivalent to £120.

The warning was centred around predictions – which have proved correct – that Brexit would trigger a sharp fall in the pound. But the latest move by Morrisons suggests customers will not feel the full brunt of any rise in inflation.