// Asda chair Lord Rose says that 20% of UK households have a £60 deficit at the end of the month
// Rose said that shoppers are cutting back and eating less
Asda chairman Lord Rose has said it is “shocking” that British households do not have enough to live on each month as he laid bare the reality of what is seen in his supermarkets.
Rose told Sky News that 20% of all householders in the UK are “running a £60 a month deficit”, according to Asda’s survey, which he termed “shocking”.
He said that some shoppers are eating less and cutting back to help make ends meet.
Rose said: “People coming to the counter to the till and saying, well, actually, I’ve now spent £25 of my £30 of my £40 that I’ve allocated for myself this week and don’t put any more through the till.”
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Despite challenged budgets, Rose predicted that Christmas would not be a wash out.
He said: “People will want a good Christmas. They’ll want to have a nice celebration on the day. They’ll want to look after their children.
“But they’ve been very thoughtful about what they can afford and what they can’t afford.”
Meanwhile, Tory peer Rose gave his thoughts on the raft of strikes taking place this winter and said that some workers are “pushing it a little bit harder than perhaps they should”, and asked individuals to be “thoughtful”.
He added: “It’s not a question of who deserves a rise, it’s a question how much can we afford to give people and when can we afford to do it?”
Rail and postal worker strikes are having a big impact on retail in the run up to Christmas.
Footfall in Central London dropped by 31.7% week on week on Tuesday, the first day of a tranche of train strikes, according to data specialists Springboard.
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