Eight out of 10 shoppers want a watchdog appointed to monitor and penalise supermarkets which treat suppliers unfairly, according to a poll commissioned by Traidcraft, the Christian-based fair trade organisation.

The Bank of England reports that members of the public now owe £1.457 trillion, £1.219 trillion of which is secured on dwellings, the value of which con­tinues to diminish, says Giles Fraser. So is more shopping the answer?

A Polish priest has defended his decision to allow his parish to be used to advertise and recruit staff for a new Tesco hypermarket, despite previous church criticisms of the UK retail giant.

Polish parliamentarians have voted to ban trading on Roman Catholic feast days after complaints that foreign supermarkets, such as British-owned Tesco, are ignoring the religious needs of workers.

Methodists all over Britain will mark Lent 2008 by only shopping for essential items. They will try to reduce their carbon footprint and focus on the essentials of life, raising awareness of the true cost of consumerism.

The average UK household spends £443 a week, with £58 on recreation & culture and £62 a week on transport. But what if we didn't? What if we said ‘no’ to all this spending and settled on just buying what we need?