peg prices

Dear Editor, I was amazed that R.B.’s piece on retail prices makes no mention of the co-operatives. Here in London, when Tesco has cut all his competitors’ throats, he will still have the LCS to contend with! In fact, on price alone we are already his only serious threat. The co-operative movement was first in introducing modern methods in retailing — if our vast resources (over £1,000 million) are now brought under unified control (as in the National Federation proposals) our position in the market will be impregnable, and through vertical integration we can guarantee to hold down prices for our members. We should remember that already the CWS is_ Britain’s third largest enterprise. Socialists should be enthusiastic about this “new wave of rationalisation” — the first duty of the cooperatives is to protect the standard of living of working people. The LCS has recently published a list of “own brand” basic products at prices more competitive than anywhere in London (including Tesco) — which it has undertaken to keep stable. In recent weeks LCS grocery. sales have shown increases up to 10% on last year — we must be meeting a need. Strong co-operatives are the consumer’s last protection — this is where we differ from the United States. ,