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Oh dear, our Pension Funds are being indirectly raided again !

(Any fines etc will reduce profits and thusly have a long term effect on the value of our Pensions)

Our Pension Funds invest in just about every PLC on the Stock market. What affects them affects us.

Why can't people back Britain PLC for a change ?

These stories will crop up again and again in all sorts of industries until a few senior DIRECTORS of companies are sent to JAIL for a reasonable length of time and fined HEAVILY and PERSONALLY. This will stop ALL of this price-fixing nonsense in its tracks almost immediately. Fines on companies will not work as the culture will not be changed and the directors will not be personally affected.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

An ever-increasing tax burden, rising utility bills, rising food prices, everything is rising in price except wages.

The end result of capitalism is an oligarchy of the rich and powerful.

This is what we are witnessing now. Big companies are no longer in competition with each to keep prices low, but now engaged in cartelization and collusion to keep prices fixed for maximum profit.

Until we realize our only purpose in life is to serve as mobile cash machines for the rich, then we will be fleeced for as long as we live.

The 'national razor' has grown dull through lack of use. Maybe it's time to sharpen it up again.

Price control one way or another has gone on for years ever since retail price maintainance was "abolished". Either by the retailer or the manafacturer. You only have to look at the prices in store to realise someone or some how prices are fixed.

Manafacturers in the food industry don't seem to be making pots of money , the large supermarkets companies seem to be far more profitable so if price fixing is going on who is the winner.

As consumers we have the last say to buy or not to buy, but unfortunatly the supermarkets have taken control and we have limited choice not of products but by outlet.

It will not matter whatever the outcome the supermarkets have controlled not what we buy but where we buy it, by effectively killing the competition, its to late to turn the clock back.

I may be a little biased in this matter, I think that the supermarkets are the great Satan and welcome any reduction in their power.

Post 1
If we allow cartel type behaviour to raise prices then those who have a stock market linked pension are then being subsidised by the state pensioners of today who are (allegedly your honour) being ripped off by the supermarkets.

The supermarkets (and most other industries) are not really bothered about Britain PLC they would outsource everything to China/India tomorrow if they could get away with it.

In reponse to the first poster price fixing is illegal, profits should be made by UK Plc through fair competition.
Pension funds are very diverse, following the old principal of not putting all your eggs in one basket.
The biggest shareholders for most supermarkets certainly aren't pension funds.
Even if they were or if the hold stakes in other consumer based companies that sell goods and services it doesn't give the business a right to price fix and collude to rip off the nation.

It's nice to know the OFT are looking after our interests. But I'm not sure -- based on the limited information available -- that this story is as simple as it seems to be on the surface.

Selling food has become fairly unprofitable in recent years as supermarkets compete very aggressively for customers. The profits generally come from selling optional extras with a higher margin. So at a time when food inflation is heading skywards thanks to global pressures, this may turn out to be a bit of a foot-shooting exercise.

Only time will tell. All I know is that every time I step in a supermarket I'm aware they're a business, not a charity, and I shop with my eyes wide open.

Overall I'm *far* more worried by the government's encouragement of high house prices via buy-to-let tax breaks than I am by the supermarkets' attempts to sell us things we don't really need. Housing isn't optional, much of what supermarkets sell these days is.

"Price rigging may not have occurred - and all the supermarkets have today denied that they have done anything to damage the interests of their customers. But don't assume it cannot have occurred, as a matter of principle, just because in general supermarkets compete hard."
Mr Peston, I am glad that you have revised your view since your interview last night on the Weekend News on 5Live. As the Austrian Banks cartel case taught us, one thing is having evidence of a cartel, which is already damning and leads to tough sanctions, administrative and also criminal, if the legal system of a Member State allows for those to be inflicted (in the UK that is the case, subject to the dishonesty requirement being proven), quite another is to have a "successful" cartel. There is not a real contradiction between the findings of the Competition Commission grocery inquiry and the OFT allegations, which are what they are at this stage, namely only allegations, whereas the Commission carried out an in depth market investigation over a lengthy period of time.
I hope this contributes to the discussion.

Price "harmonisation" is merely the supermarkets' way of giving the public what it wants!
At least SOME of our supermarkets are transparent in that they offer the same "deal" regardless of location.
Having been out of the trade for many years, I do not know the current situation, but in days of old (certainly up until the early 90s), major groups like Tesco and the Co-op had numerous widely varying price lists - only offering the best prices across wider ranges where competition from other retailers demanded it. The keen "headline" prices widely advertised often only applied to a very limited part of their inventory. Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose did not con their customers in this way, selling their entire offering at the same prices nationally.
The OFT would serve consumers better by ensuring geographical monopoly positions, especially of Tesco, are broken.

Most policies are comparative, aren't they?

The biggest price fixing cartel in the world is OPEC. They've tacitly agreed amongst themselves not to invest in oil field developments. They are right not to do so. The oil price rises consequent to their supply squeeze are forcing us all to economise and find alternatives. Which is a sensible strategy for our futures.

The biggest price fixing arrangement in the UK is the way local government planning cartels ration the supply of development land. Those cartels gaurantee inefficient building and land wastage, and hundreds of thousands of families and individuals not being able to find a decent home. And ensures that house price inflation in our country is greater than in comparable countries. No OFT action is forthcoming.

Compared with those, keeping cigarette prices higher than they might have been is very small stuff indeed.

It's worth noting that Supermarkets buy a lot of their stock in a market place.

For example Pork.

The market sets the price anyone buying the Pork pays the same price.

Now the Supermarkets have all got virtually identical costs.

So is it any wonder that the Price of Bacon (for example ) is similar between stores?

They've all paid the same for the Pork in the first place !

Interestingly, for those interested in Socialism, the Common Market has been Price fixing agricultural products for Decades as an exercise in protecting the Common Man (against Famine etc).

Now, will the OFT accuse them next?

Strikes me that the OFT need to announce their investigations properly and not through leaks to the media, and over weekends.

These sorts of activities can certainly lead to sharp changes in share prices, and I'm surprised that the SFA has nothing to say on the matter.

Funny how after we find that the cost of the average supermarket shop goes up by 15%, that the OFT jumps into action. no prodding from the government then?

History has shown that the price of shares and other assets is an important part of the dynamics of economic activity, and can influence or be an indicator of social mood. An economy where the stock market is on the rise is considered to be an up coming economy. In fact, the stock market is often considered the primary indicator of a country's economic strength and development. High price of commodities is an indication that there's something wrong with the economy. Families begin to save. Saving money is important. The best thing to do to start saving money is to not go on a grocery spree for all the finer foods at the supermarket. You want to stick to more frugal fare if you're on a budget and don't want to wreck your finances. If the goal is to not waste money, you really don't want to have to look into an online cash advance because you couldn't lay off of the fancy French cheese. You don't want to wreak havoc on the family budget with a fine food glut, if your goal is to be .