UK government must act on Iran war impact, retailers warn

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - Britain's ​retail ⁠sector called on the government ​to help with soaring costs as a result ​of ‌the Iran war on Wednesday, warning that without ⁠support it will be harder to ⁠keep a lid ​on rising prices for consumers.

The British Retail Consortium trade body said the conflict was pushing ​up ‌energy, production, shipping and distribution costs, compounding existing pressures from higher employer taxes, rising wages and new packaging levies.

* The ​BRC also flagged further regulatory burdens, including guaranteed ‌hours provisions under new employment law and the proposed reformulation of thousands ‌of food lines.

* It wants the UK government to follow Germany and reduce electricity costs ​for businesses by moving levies off bills.

* It ‌also wants the government to delay the proposed food reformulation and review packaging levies.

* The ⁠BRC ⁠said polling by Opinium it ‌commissioned showed four in five people fear the Iran ​war ​will push up food prices.

* ‌Last month supermarket group Sainsbury's called for government support for the food sector. (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Sainsbury's