After boycotting chain supermarkets last Wednesday, campaign group We’re Not Buying It announces their next target: Tesco.
Campaign group We’re Not Buying It (WNBI) announced last week that the next development in their fight against the UK’s inflated food prices will be a nationwide boycott of Tesco over the festive period, starting on 1 December.
The news follows the success of their first boycott on Wednesday 28 October, which targeted all major UK supermarket chains and encouraged the public to shop at local alternatives instead.
In Acton, members gathered outside their local Morrisons in protest, encouraging shoppers to rethink their choices.
WNBI campaigner and Kings College Student Sadeer Kadem said: “What we’re asking is not that hard, and it’s for everyone’s benefit; I don’t see why anyone would be against it.”
The newly formed group has emerged as a result of members’ concern over the cost of living.
The grassroots campaign initially gained momentum on social media, but has since appeared on Sky News and on the Jeremy Vine show.
The movement is inspired by similar efforts being made in Croatia, which had high success rates. Public spending fell from approximately 60.5 million to 28.6 million on boycott days and resulted in the government introducing mandatory price caps on food and fuel.
The goal of the Tesco boycott in December is for the government to apply similar price caps to essential food items, like bread, milk and eggs.
“The prices that are currently set are not accessible to ordinary people,” said spokesperson Johanna Grace. “These price caps would provide immediate relief to families who are struggling to afford food.”
In response to criticism, the campaign’s Tesco boycott will take a more targeted approach.
According to the British Retail Consortium, inflation has caused shop prices to rise to the highest level in two and a half years. However, WNBI believe this is only part of the story. They feel the big-name supermarkets, like Tesco, are profiteering under the guise of the cost-of-living crisis, which they refer to as ‘greedflation.’
Tesco made over £3 billion in profits last year, making it the UK’s leading supermarket chain.
WNBI believe that by starting with Tesco, they can send a message that reaches the whole food industry.
Through pledging, the group plans to gather numbers that Tesco and the government can’t ignore.
Their target currently stands at one million signatures.
For more information on WNBI, head to their website: https://www.werenotbuyingit.co.uk/
