GROCERY inflation is spiralling out of control as the Tories continue to fail to get a grip on the cost of living crisis, the SNP has warned.

It comes as research for consumer group Which? found price rises have sent the cost of bread and cheese up 80% in the past year, with food inflation having grown to 17.2% in the year to March in 2023, up from 16.5% in the year to February.

Earlier this year, findings from Kantar Worldpanel revealed the spike over the past year meant that families faced a potential £811 annual rise in the cost of their regular shopping basket.

Patricia Gibson, the SNP’s environment, food and rural affairs spokesperson, said every chance the Tory government has had to fix rocketing prices has been “squandered” and insisted the only way out of the crisis is via independence.

READ MORE: Give Us Space: The National's campaign backing buffer zones

She told The National: “Grocery inflation is spiralling out of control as the Tories continue to fail to get a grip of their cost of living crisis, harming households and taking hundreds of pounds more out of their pockets every year.

“No one, in what is supposed to be a wealthy country, should be priced out of basic food items but here we have a situation, created by the Tories, where ordinary people can’t afford staples like bread and cheese.

“Every opportunity the Tories have had to reverse this situation and address the financial harm being caused to people has been squandered and wasted as they continue to keep their eye off the ball.

“The record of the Tories is a shocking one, and sadly we see no signs of promise that things will get better. Scottish households should not be made to pay such a high price for the failures of a Westminster government it didn’t elect. 

“It is becoming increasingly clear we can only begin to reverse the damage caused by the Tories and create a better economy that works for everyone with the full powers of independence.”

The National:

Overall inflation fell to 10.1% in the year to March from 10.4% in February, but food prices are rising at their fastest rate in 45 years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Falling inflation does not mean prices are dropping, just that the rate of price rises is slowing.

Grant Fitzner, chief economist for the ONS, told the BBC on Wednesday that globally food prices were falling but that had not yet led to price cuts.

"There's been some strong upward movement in food prices and you would expect to see that reflected in supermarkets but we're not there yet," he told the Radio 4 Today programme.

When asked whether we might see double digit inflation sustained at least for another month, he said: "It is certainly within the realm of possibility but we don't forecast this."