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Justin King, who was chief executive of the chain for 10 years, fired an ominous warning to households, claiming: “The cost of living crisis has yet to arrive.” He urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reverse his plans for an increase in National Insurance to help families cope with the soaring costs.

Now a director at M&S, Mr King said: “We’ve already seen a significant increase in food or drink prices, somewhere in the region of five percent.

“I think it will get closer to 10 percent and I think it will last a deal longer than is the central view, certainly well into next year and probably through next year.

“It’s wishful thinking that the spike in prices will only be short term.

“The pressures are long-lasting. If you take the cost of wages, they are a big part of the cost of food and I doubt very much whether this year’s pay deals are going to be ahead of inflation, so there is going to be some matching up to do.

“In truth, the cost of living crisis has yet to arrive. It’s the increase in energy prices in particular which is going to hit most households hard, quickly followed by the increase in National Insurance.”

Grocery prices rose at their fastest rate in more than eight years in February, according to the market analysts Kantar.

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