Yesterday's preliminary report from the competition commission on supermarkets has managed to leave the investigated being happiest with the outcome and those hoping for a tough verdict pretty disappointed.
Much of the liberal commentariat has been united in reaction at the commission's verdict, believing it to be a bad thing (Guardian, Independent) whilst a note of 'read the small print' is sounded by the Telegraph and FT and Robert Peston at the BBC. Richard Hyman, also in the Telegraph, points out that the supermarkets provide a service that enables other aspects of our current lifestyle. The supermarkets are generally happy (Waitrose, Asda, Morrisons and unspoken commission target Tesco), others happy as long as further action gets taken (the NFU, BRC, the British Property Federation, Spar and the Federation of Wholesale Distributors) and the small stores are plain unhappy (FSB).
