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Supermarket Regulator

I am lucky. I was reflecting on my luck when I was given the opportunity, in addition to my energy responsibilities, to address the House on this important subject. I shall have another word with my ministerial colleague about my good fortune. Big is not necessarily bad. OFT data indicate that in the five years to 2005, product lines in groceries increased by nearly 40 per cent. on average. According to the Office for National Statistics, retail food prices fell between December 1999 and May 2005 by 4.1 per cent. in real terms, which is surely good for consumers and the economy. Furthermore, the four biggest supermarket chains—Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Morrison—employ more than 675,000 people. Additionally, the Co-op’s stores make it a significant player. We need to get the balance right. Many of my constituents are concerned that Morrison’s in Upper Norwood has decided to close down. In all honesty, they do not flood to my advice surgery to say, ““What a wonderful opportunity for the small entrepreneur””; they say, ““Who else will take over this superstore””? Our constituents like visiting supermarkets, just as they value flourishing and entrepreneurial small shops. There must be no whiff of hypocrisy in this debate. My hon. Friend was honest enough to come out as a Tesco shopper, which he described as an enjoyable experience. I am bound to say that when I am on my own at a checkout and there is suddenly a rush of goods to put in bags, I find it more of a terrifying than an enjoyable experience. Let us not get into a situation where we use the superstores as well as the small shops—as do our constituents, many of whom are employed by them—yet at the theoretical level see them as the devil incarnate.