Retail Express (“the unique, fun, easy-to-read tabloid trade title that gives convenience retailers all the news and information on products and promotions they need to grow their business”) is worried by my recent article on supermarkets from The Business newspaper. Nick Shanagher, after bemoaning the rise of pro-supermarket arguments that “have all the hallmark of quality New Labour spin”, he writes:

“Smaller shops? What we really need is bigger supermarkets,” writes Alex Singleton of the Globalisation Institute in a recent issue of the Business.

Mr Singleton assembles a long list of arguments to support his thesis and sums up by saying: “Intellectuals may sneer at the 9p Tesco Value Baked Beans or the 15p loaf of bread, but forcing us to return to local shops would be a smash and grab raid on the lowest income Brits.

“Supermarkets thus have an important social role: we should not let the ideologues and trendy middle classes force up prices.”

His facts are mind numbing. Restrictive planning laws mean that the British supermarkets are “needlessly small”, he says. Americans enjoy 38 feet of retail space per person whereas “we Brits” get a mere seven.

“The result,” he says, “is higher prices for consumers.”

Mr Singleton’s solution is simple. Cancel the [OFT] investigation and free the supermarkets from captivity, allowing more and larger stores, particularly so that supermarkets open near others.

Local shops and farmers’ markets wanting to win business away from supermarkets need to compete, not lobby government for special favours. People at the end of the day buy from supermarkets because they like their convenience and prices. Small shops need to make compelling arguments what consumers should visit them. As for farmers’ markets, I actually rather like them - when I visit Normany, I’m always keen to pick up local cheeses and honey. But like most people, for day to day food shopping, supermarkets provide what I’m looking for.