Shoppers should pay a transaction charge of 1p when they use a self-checkout machine to heal the generational divide caused by Brexit, a group of MPs has said.

The parliamentary panel on social integration, chaired by Chuka Umunna, who defected from the Labour Party in February to found Change UK, made the proposal in a report released last week.

The charge would be "to counteract potential damage caused by a lack of everyday contact between people" and could raise £30m to be spent on projects that promote social inclusion.

Tom Ironside of the British Retail Consortium, the trade body for supermarkets, dismissed the proposal. "A new tax, particularly one that penalises modern shopping behaviour, will harm both consumers and retailers at a time when retailers are rightly focused on delivering the best value for shoppers," he said.

Mr Umunna said: "We all know that Brexit has been incredibly divisive but what we have seen over the course of this inquiry suggests that generational division extends far beyond the realm of politics into our daily lives."

Antony Hawkins of The Challenge, a social integration charity, said: "Our society is divided along many fault lines so it is great to see this group delve deep into the reasons for divisions between the ages and offer suggestions on how we bridge that gap."