How to save Royal Mail

The government’s ‘cost-of-living tsar’, Just Eat co-founder David Buttress, was appointed last month as a Canutian gesture against the inflation tide. He says his role is to encourage retailers and utilities to offer discount deals that might relieve short-term pain for consumers. But wouldn’t it be good if he also had powers to shame companies or sectors for profiteering by whacking their prices up far ahead of inflation? Any firm for which energy or scarce raw materials are major cost elements has possible reason for scorching price rises; many others do not.

Buttress could start by looking into hire-car rates, which have doubled (and more) across Europe since 2019 – stinging holidaymakers who prefer to brave airport queues rather than endure Channel port gridlock in their own cars. International operators such as Avis, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt offer the excuse that having reduced their fleets during the pandemic, they can’t rebuild them fast enough to meet summer demand because global microchip shortages have restricted supply from car factories.