Coronavirus: MP calls for law change over “disgusting” profiteers

MPS ALEXANDER Stafford and Sarah Champion joined forces in condemning profiteers making money out of the coronavirus crisis.

Shops have been accused of hiking up prices on items in short supply, while racketeers have been taken to task for stockpiling goods and selling at inflated rates online.

One shopper said while supermarkets had been left with empty shelves, smaller shops had taken advantage by ramping up prices.

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“Some have doubled their prices,” she said. “Talk about taking advantage.

“Green chillis, for example, would normally be £6 a kilo and they have gone up to £16 a kilo, while chicken has gone from £3 to £12.

“I just think I will have to go back when I’m desperate.”

One photo posted on social media this week showed a four-pack of toilet roll — the most sought-after item during the crisis — on sale for £9.99, four or six times the usual price.

Another shopper said she had seen a 50ml bottle of hand sanitiser priced at for £5.

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Rother Valley MP Mr Stafford raised the issue in the House of Commons on Wednesday with a question to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

He said: “Will he join me in calling on people to only take what they need, not to stockpile and stamp out the disgusting scourge of black-marketing profiteers?”

Mr Johnson replied that profiteering was “something we should be looking at from a legislative point of view”.

He said supermarkets had “adequate” supplies but urged people when doing their shopping to “act reasonably and considerately”.

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Mr Stafford told the Advertiser: “People are bulk-buying and reselling on the internet for vast profit.”

Mr Stafford, whose wife is expecting their first child in April, added: “I’ve seen it for myself. I’ve been trying to buy a baby thermometer and they are selling online for £130. It’s disgusting profiteering.

“They are nothing more than the modern-day spivs who took advantage of people during the Second World War.

“You see the best in people at times like this but also the worst.”

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Mr Stafford wants to see the 1988 Consumer Act changed so that individuals as well as businesses are barred from bulk buying to resell at hugely-increased prices.

Ms Champion said she had been told about profiteering online as well as on the high street.

“We are in unprecedented times due to coronavirus and to get through it, we must work together,” she said.

“It was therefore deeply disappointing to hear from constituents that some shops, especially those online, appear to be trying to profiteer from this crisis.

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“While I’m aware that wholesalers may be passing on price hikes, and shopkeepers need to make a living, it leaves a very unpalatable feeling to think that someone might see Covid-19 as a time to make a quick buck.”