"Jobs boost from Asda" shouts your headline about 570 new jobs being "created" (30/06/04). A more accurate headline would be; "Asda expansion is bad news for traders, farmers and communities".

Wal-Mart, which owns Asda, is now the biggest company on Earth. It is successful partly because it is one of the most ruthless employers in the western world. A recent study by Oxfam documents the systematic abuse of workers in the factories and farms that the superstores buy from.

Supermarkets use their buying power to force the world's farmers to compete directly with each other. Gloucestershire farmers recently report selling Cox's for 57p a kilo - less than their cost of production. The superstores sell the same apples for £1.80 and can buy apples for less in Chile and South Africa because labour is cheaper and aviation costs are subsidised by the taxpayer.

The Office of Fair Trading admits that the voluntary code of practice, which is supposed to protect farmers from the excessive power of the superstores, is not working. Our local businesses cannot compete in this unfair market. The New Economics Foundation found that 270 local jobs are lost each time a supermarket opens. 50 small traders are forced out of business every week.

Our government's inaction is shocking. They seem content to watch over retailers like Asda, take over our towns, squeeze farmers out of business and exploit the UK market for all it is worth. We urgently need action to reverse this process and curtail the power of these retailing giants.

Philip Booth, Press Officer, Gloucestershire Green Party. Lark Rise, 2 The Laurels, Bread Street, Ruscombe, Stroud, Glos. GL6 6EL