Discuss - Business Supermarket Regulation - Regulate supermarkets to ensure prices are fair

Should supermarkets be heavily regulated to ensure food production & prices are in everyone's interests?

Alliance Party "We will highly encourage suppliers, retailers and food service companies to sign up voluntarily to the 'Code of Practice on Supermarkets' Dealings with Suppliers'." Source: Alliance Party website http://allianceparty.org/page/policy-summary-agriculture

Conservative We will introduce an independent supermarket ombudsman, as a ring-fenced unit within the Office of Fair Trading, to enforce the Grocery Supply Code of Practice. As well as ensuring that supermarket practices are fair and in the long-term interests of consumers, We must enable farmers to work together to give them more clout in the marketplace. Source: Conservative Party "A New Age of Agriculture - Our Agenda for British Farming".

Green Party A legally binding supermarket Code of Practice will be introduced to ensure that all farmers and suppliers, in the UK and elsewhere, are treated fairly, and that the grocery market also operates in the interests of small retailers and consumers. A fully independent supermarket Ombudsman will be introduced to monitor the compliance with and effectiveness of this code. Source: Green Party http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/fa.html

Plaid Cymru We need to make sure the new ‘Supermarket Ombudsman’, which Plaid has long called for, has the teeth it needs so that Welsh producers get a fair deal. We need changes to UK food labelling legislation so that consumers have clear information on ‘place of farming’. Source: 2010 Plaid Cymru Westminster Manifesto

Respect Party Respect Party promises, "Regulation of the large supermarket chains to ensure that food production and food prices are in the interests of all, not the large farmers and businesses". Source: Respect Party website.

SNP We have repeatedly told the UK Government that we believe a supermarkets ombudsman would help provide long-term security for many parts of the food chain, including consumers. Supermarkets wield a huge amount of influence over the future of our food industry and, as the experience of the banking sector shows us, robust regulation is essential. UK Ministers must now ensure that supermarkets give a fair deal to suppliers and primary producers. - Scottish Government Minister for the Environment Roseanna Cunningham http://snp.org/?q=media-centre/news/2009/aug/snp-back-supermarket-ombudsman

Comment on this topic