Keir Starmer pledges to ‘change law so people can buy baby formula with loyalty points’

'The desperation of families around the country should make the Tories feel nothing but shame.'

Keir Starmer has pledged to change the law so families can pay for baby formula with supermarket loyalty points.

More than half of newborns have had formula milk by one week – yet cash-strapped families face high prices, few options and even fewer ways to pay for it.

Infant formula prices have soared above inflation over the past two years, bringing the cost of feeding a 10-week-old baby to up to £89 per month.

Yet the Labour leader has he’d get out his wallet to pay for formula if he ever saw a parent ‘clearly in need’ trying to steal a tub in the baby food aisle.

‘I’d offer to pay it,’ Starmer told the Big Issue. ‘The desperation of families around the country should make the Tories feel nothing but shame.’

Starmer said that as much as shoplifting can be bad for business, his government would rope 13,000 neighbourhood police officers to ‘reassure’ the high street.

‘But we’d also change the rules so people could use food bank vouchers and loyalty card points to buy baby formula,’ he added, something Metro.co.uk’s award-winning Formula for Change campaign hopes to achieve.

Asked the same question by the Big Issue, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said shoplifting is not ‘a victimless crime’, adding: ‘We will continue to help parents with the cost of living.’

Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he would try to persuade the parent ‘not’ to shoplift the formula.

‘Try and find them other help, that would be the best way of doing it,’ he added.

Scottish first minister John Swinney, of the SNP, added: ‘I’d discreetly offer to pay as no parent should ever have to face this situation.

‘Sadly, this is not hypothetical – I meet with my constituents, and people across Scotland, every week who face this kind of hardship.’

Britain has strict infant formula laws, limiting how it can be made, marketed, sold and bought. The government has said this aligns with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Retailers have their hands tied, essentially. Shoppers can’t pay for a tin of formula using loyalty card points or food bank vouchers. Gift cards, coupons and deals like two-for-one or discounts are out of the question.

For parents starting a family amid the years-long cost of living crisis, skipping meals, watering down formula or rationing it, buying it off the black market and even stealing tubs off supermarket shelves seem like their only choice.

Formula makers have been accused by the UN of ‘manipulating prices’ and ‘putting profits ahead of the welfare of babies’.

Prices in the UK are so ‘historically high’ that the competition watchdog has launched an investigation into infant formula price tags.

Not everyone can breastfeed. Formula, cows’ milk treated to make it better suited for babies, is often a go-to option for mothers in low-income jobs who may not have the time to breastfeed, researchers say.

Metro.co.uk’s Formula for Change campaign, in partnership with family support charity Feed, has been pushing for a change in infant milk law.

Our petition has been signed by more than 105,000 people, with signatories including Katherine Ryan, Ashley James and Michelle Heaton.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has previously thrown his weight behind the campaign, while some supermarket chains have defiantly slashed prices.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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