NEWS from Tesco this week that it had made £3.13 billion pre-tax profits brought a swift response from Tim Farron, Lib Dem shadow environment secretary.
“While it is good to see businesses doing well in the recession, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact these huge profits have been built by exploiting small family farmers by paying them a pittance for their produce,”
he said. “Tesco controls more than 30 per cent of the UK food market. There can be little doubt that a powerful supermarket monopoly has damaged farmers and weakened rural areas.”
He said his party would create a legally binding supermarket code, overseen by a Food Market Regulator, in an attempt to redress the balance in the sector.
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