The boss at budget chain Iceland has called on Tories to raise Universal Credit, describing Liz Truss's priorities as "odd".
Addressing a fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference, director Richard Walker - who has been outspoken on the struggles his customers face - said he was puzzled by tax cuts for the rich coupled with a lack of support for those on low incomes.
The government resisted calls to increase benefit support to help with the rising cost of living, while unveiling huge tax cuts for the highest earners and scrapping caps on bankers' bonuses.
Mr Walker twice told delegates that he believed a £20 uplift for those struggling to make ends meet would make a huge difference.
Meanwhile a Tory MP warned that failure to guarantee economic "resilience" for those on low incomes would only lead to social and economic problems further down the line as he broke ranks.
The supermarket chief, told audience members at a debate hosted by thinktank The Resolution Foundation: "I don't think it (the mini-budget) did enough to help."
He added: "Personally I'd favour reinstating the £20 Universal Credit uplift."
Asked what he thought of the controversial mini-budget later in the discussion, he said: "I referenced the Universal Credit top-up, in terms of the cost of doing that, that wouldn't necessarily break the bank in terms of some of the other policies they're pushing."
And he continued: "Some of the priorities are a bit odd in terms of reducing the top rate, I don't think the timing was quite right."
Mr Walker said the government do understand - "but not fully" - the scale of the struggles people on low incomes are facing.
"We really do have to look after the most vulnerable," he told an event hosted by thinktank The Resolution Foundation yesterday (SUN).
"There's more they can do."
He told an audience in Birmingham that food inflation is currently more than 10%, piling misery on shoppers who are already struggling with rising bills.
A pint of milk which a year ago cost £1 now sets shoppers back £1.55, he said, adding that Ms Truss's arguments about growth seem remote to millions.
"If you're one of my customers and you've only got £25 to spend on food, you've got more immediate concerns that to worry about GPD," Mr Walker said.
Tory MP Bim Afolami, who has previously served as a Private Parliamentary Secretary to Liz Truss and deputy PM Therese Coffey, also voiced dissent about the current government's course.
He told the debate that while he agrees with the focus on growth, "we've got to get to that point taking people with us".
Mr Afolami continued: "It strikes me as odd that we're we aren't prioritising the financial resilience of people on low incomes."
And he added: "For me unless we can get give people more opportunity to manage their financial resilience at the lower end we get bigger social problems and we get bigger economic problems."
Mr Afolami said that there is growing resentment among young adults unable to afford their own homes.
"When you see someone at 28 getting a flat, they know it's because their parents are richer than theirs," he said.
"They feel resentful, and that's bad in so many ways."
Universal Credit payments were raised by £20 a week during the Covid crisis, but this was scrapped from last October.
The increase, which amounted to £1,040 extra a year, was abolished as the government would down its pandemic support.
Charities warned that the move would plunge millions into poverty.
