SIR — A further trawl through various sources of information results in some surprisingly nefarious facts about that well known American chainstore Asda-Walmart. How large, for instance, in the US? Well, it has 1.4 million employees, and that is larger than General Motors, Ford, General Electric and IBM combined. What about revenue? In 2003 it was a mere 258 billion (not million) US dollars, eight times more than Microsoft. And the damage that it is doing? In the state of Iowa alone, after this company moved in, 7,326 businesses had to close down, including 555 grocery shops, 298 hardware shops, 293 building suppliers, 116 chemists, 422 clothing and shoe shops, and 161 general food stores. How would that relate to little old Minehead, you might well ask? In a word, devastation! Next time you visit Bridgwater, go to Asda, look at the height of the ceiling and ask yourself why there is so much room above your head. Mezzanine (non-food) comes to mind . . . Do not allow this company to come to our town; do not accept the codology of it being good for us all from this council of desperadoes; it will result in the death of businesses in return for a mere bagatelle of low-paid, low-esteem jobs. Make your voice heard! Ray Brooker, Chestnut Way, Minehead.
