As firms deal with rising costs in an inflation crisis – the government offers them a tsar with a plan

Aims include ‘new and existing business-led initiatives that support people by encouraging businesses to do more to highlight discounted prices or product offers’. Businesses don’t seem happy, argues James Moore

How businesses are supposed to get a mark of approval from a government ‘tsar’ as some sort of price champion isn’t clear (PA)

A government campaign thingy – it’s really the only word I can use to describe it, having sought details from the Cabinet Office – designed to hit the cost of living crisis by urging businesses to cut prices really represents a new level of absurdity from a government that could write a cracking book on the subject.

Former Just Eat boss David Buttress is, per a government statement, going to “work in partnership with the private sector to identify, develop and promote new and existing business-led initiatives that support people by encouraging businesses to do more to highlight discounted prices or product offers”.

But there seems to be no new government money involved in it. So Mr Buttress is going to go around banging on doors and asking for special offers he can chat about? Pretty please with sugar on top?