Tesco's employs corporate muscle

After sicing the lawyers on Thai critics, Tesco is now suing the Guardian for having the temerity to discuss their tax arrangements.

The St Albans Stop Tesco Group says it all:

As we've said before about Tesco, and this applies just as much to its ongoing other libel suit in Tesco (here's the latest news on this), the issue for us isn't so much what Tesco does - it is the fact that it can afford to spend money on legal writs and tax avoidance that smaller shops can't.

Local newsagents, grocers and market traders would love to reduce their tax demands by using overseas companies and hiring expensive tax experts - but they can't afford to. Tesco can, and can then use the tax savings to both improve its massive profits, and cut prices to drive local competitors out of business. So there goes any sense of a level playing field...