A while back I reported (link here) on the way our large supermarkets were using their near monopoly to squeeze every penny out of farmers for their produce and that they were manifesting the same imperial spirit that has done so much damage to the nations. Well it seems they’re at it again – or at least our local branch of Tesco’s is.

Apparently the staff at the Bangor branch are intending to go on strike. I have no idea what the strike is about or what problems there are between staff and management. For all I know the staff could be acting quite irresponsibly in their actions. However, the local paper – the Bangor Mail – has caught wind of the story and has published details of it in the latest edition. Since I haven’t seen what was published I can’t comment on what editorial line was taken or how fair the reporting was.

What I can report on however, is that Tesco’s decided to remove all copies of the paper from their newsagents section once they realised the story was published. And they would have continued to refuse to sell the paper on their premises in Bangor had not a protest been made by some people, including the local Member of Parliament.

I find this attempt to silence press freedom quite shocking on one hand and yet feel it is entirely consistent with the general behaviour of the supermarkets. Once again, empire writ large.
Any thoughts? 


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